Total Drama Island Rewritten
by Light of the Dawn
Summary: Thirty-seven teens. One hundred thousand dollars. One summer. Friendships, betrayals and summer romances - all here in the dramatic first season of the hottest new reality show on television! That's right - it's Total Drama Island rewritten to include every teenage contestant from every season! Rated teen for safety! Constructive criticism greatly appreciated.
1. Not So Happy Campers: Part One

**So, this story is set in an alternate universe in which all the campers from all of the seasons were all contestants in the first season. So I'm rewriting the first season with everyone in it (except Blaineley).**

**I thought I'd also play around with the teams and see how that affects the relationships that develop.**

**I don't own Total Drama.**

* * *

"Yo! We're coming at you live from Camp Wawanakwa, somewhere in Muskoka, Ontario! I'm you're host, Chris Maclean." The man with shaggy black hair began to walk down the length of a dock, with a camera following his movement. "And we're dropping season one of the hottest new reality show on television right now!"

"So here's the deal: thirty-seven teens have volunteered spend ten weeks at this crummy old summer camp. They will compete in challenges against each other and then have to face the judgment of their fellow campers." Chris looked increasingly pleased with himself. "Every two days, one team will either receive a reward or have to send one of their teammates home. For good." Chris began to chuckle at a seemingly private joke. "We told our contestants that they'd be staying in a five star resort, so if they seem a little ticked off, that's probably why."

_**Cue theme song.**_

"Everyone gather 'round! We need a group photo for the promos!" Chris said, hopping in a boat that took him several feet from the dock so that he could get everyone in the shot. "Everyone at the end of the dock!"

"My great-grandfather invented the camera. Before him, people just stood in front of mirrors for decoration." Staci said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Courtney frowned. "But what about painted portraits?"

"Oh, they were invented by my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-uncle." Staci said with a nod.

Courtney shook her head. "Painting has been around for more than just a few centuries."

"Shut up so I can take the picture!" Chris commanded.

The teens crowded around at the end of the dock and struck a pose together.

"Move in closer!" Chris called. "You're too wide for the shot!"

The teens shuffled closer together.

"Say cheese!" Chris said.

"Cheese!" The contestants replied in unison as Chris hit the button to take the photo.

"Oh, hold on. The lens cap's still on." Chris said, popping the cap off. "Okay, now smile!"

"What are you waiting for, man?" Leshawna asked when the camera didn't flash. "My face is starting to freeze up!"

"Card's full!" Chris explained, frowning as he fiddled with the camera. "There, should be good now. Everyone say 'Wawanakwa'!"

"Wawanakw-AAAHHHHH!" The contestants screamed as the dock gave out under their combined weight and sent all of them plunging into the lake.

"Okay guys, dry off and meet at the campfire pit in ten!" Chris said, abandoning the teens in the water.

* * *

"Ugh! My suitcase is drenched!" Heather snarled, kicking her expensive suitcase angrily. "My stuff is ruined!"

"You don't have to wear anything to the campfire you know, gorgeous." Duncan said, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

"Ugh, drop dead!" Heather growled.

"My stuff is soaked too." Zoey said, offering a smile. Heather was not impressed.

"Here, do you want to use my towel?" Mike asked, offering Zoey a smile and his towel. "My suitcase didn't fall in, fortunately."

"Thanks!" Zoey said, accepting Mike's towel to dry herself off with.

"No problem." Mike said.

"It's really pretty here, isn't it?" Zoey said, glancing around.

"Yeah, it's _beautiful_." Mike said, subconsciously leaning closer to Zoey.

"I hope we're on the same team." Zoey said with a smile.

"Me too. Speaking of teams - we'd better get to the campfire." Mike said, and Zoey nodded before they began to make their way towards the campfire, with a half-drowned Heather glaring after them.

"Hey! What about me?!" Heather screamed after them.

* * *

"This is camp Wawanakwa, your home for the next ten weeks." Chris said. "The campers sitting around you will be your cabin-mates, your competition and maybe even your friends. The camper who manages to stay on the show for the longest without getting voted off will win one hundred thousand dollars."

"Excuse me, what will the sleeping arrangements be?" Duncan asked, an eyebrow raised in amusement. "Because I would like to request a bunk under _her_." He jabbed a thumb in Heather's direction.

"They're not co-ed, are they?" Heather asked in alarm.

"No." Chris shook his head. Heather looked relieved. "Girls get one side of each cabin and dudes get the other."

"Excuse me, Kyle, can I request a cabin with a lake view because I am the prettiest?" Lindsay asked.

"Hey!" Dakota squeaked. "If she gets a lake view cabin for being pretty, I should get one too!"

"Okay, you are, but that's not really how it works here." The host replied, before beginning to frown. "And it's Chris."

"I have to live with Sadie or I'll die!" Katie exclaimed.

"And I'll break out in hives!" Sadie cried. "It's true!"

"This cannot be happening." The goth girl, Gwen said in a monotone voice.

"Aww, come on guys," Owen said, grabbing Gwen and Tyler into a double headlock hug – with Gwen under one arm and Tyler under the other. "It'll be fun! It's like a big sleepover!"

"At least you don't have to sleep next to _him_." Tyler whispered to Gwen, nodding his head towards Duncan, who was giving a noogie to a deer.

"Here's the deal: we're gonna split you into three teams." He produced a piece of paper. "If I call out your name, go stand over there." Chris said, pointing to a spot to the far right of the campfire area. "Trent, Ann Maria, Cody, Owen, Dakota, Staci, Jo, Justin, Dawn, Noah, Alejandro and Zoey."

The named contestants gathered in the spot that Chris had pointed out.

"Nice to meet you all." Zoey said with a smile, casting a slightly disappointed glance over her shoulder at the nice boy, Mike, who had loaned her his towel.

"The pleasure is all mine." Alejandro said, taking Zoey's hand and planting a kiss on the back of it like a true gentleman. Zoey's eyes grew wide as she witnessed the gesture, and her cheeks flushed pink.

Chris threw them a rolled up piece of green fabric, which Owen caught and unrolled, revealing the emblem of a green rodent in a cream coloured circle in the middle of the flag. "From this moment on, you are officially the Screaming Gophers."

"Yeah! I'm a gopher!" Owen cheered. "Woo!"

"The next team will consist of: Beth, Duncan, Harold, Gwen, Ezekiel, Geoff, Leshawna, Heather, Tyler, Katie, DJ and Lindsay."

"Wait, what about Sadie?" Katie asked in distress as she moved over to where her team stood.

Chris threw the team a rolled up banner, this one orange in colour. Harold caught it and let it unroll, spreading wide the emblem of their team.

"You guys will officially be known as the Killer Bass." Chris said.

"That's awesome." Harold said. "It's like. . . amazing."

"The rest of you, over here. Scott, Bridgette, Lightning, Cameron, Eva, Sadie, B, Mike, Brick, Izzy, Courtney, Sam and Sierra!" Chris said. "Move move move!"

"But Katie's a Bass! I have to be a Bass!" Sadie began to wail.

"Sadie is it? C'mon. It'll be okay." Courtney said.

"And you will officially be the Thrashing Bears!" Chris said as Brick unrolled the purple flag.

"This is so unfair!" Sadie began to cry. "I'll miss you Katie!"

Katie began to cry as well. "I'll miss you too Sadie!"

"Alright campers, you and your team will be on camera in all public areas during this competition." Chris began. "You will also be able to share your innermost thoughts on tape with video diaries anytime you want. Let the audience at home know what you're really thinking or just get something off your chest."

* * *

**Confessionals**

_Gwen sat in the confessional. "So far this sucks."_

The screen went snowy for half a second.

_Jo appeared on the screen. "We weren't even two minutes into the game when the weak links started to appear. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the Bass lose the first challenge and boot that goth girl."_

The screen went snowy again.

_Lindsay stood with her back to the camera. "I don't get it, where's the camera guy?"_

More snow.

_Owen was standing in the confessional, looking very serious. "Hey everyone, check this out. I have something very important to say!" Lifting one leg, he farted loudly. Then he began to giggle. "Nyahahahaha!"_

Snow again.

_Zoey was in the confessional now. "Ew, it really smells in here. . ." She said, waving her hand in front of her nose to clear away the smell. "Anyway, that Mike guy is so cute!" She gave up waving her hand and instead pinched her nose to keep out the smell. Then she looked down and blushed a little. "I wish we were on the same team so I could get to know him better."_

* * *

"Alright, any questions?" Chris asked. Nobody raised their hand. "Cool, lets find your cabins." He walked the three groups to a semi-circle composed of three rather dilapidated cabins. "Gophers in east, Bass in middle and Bears in west."

The three teams split up and made their way to their team's cabins.

"Bunk beds? Isn't this a little summer camp?" Heather asked in disgust, as she opened the door to the girls' side of the Killer Bass cabin. She stopped in the doorway to survey their living arrangements.

"That's the idea, genius." Said the goth girl, pushing past her on her way into the cabin.

"Ugh, shut up weird goth girl!" Heather responded with a glare.

"You're so smart, I feel that." Said a brunette boy to Gwen.

She dropped her suitcases in irritation. "Shouldn't you be on the boys' side?" She said, turning to face him. "And in a different cabin?" Then she picked him up and threw him out of the cabin, where he handed face-down in the dirt.

"Where are the outlets? I need to plug in my straightening iron." Linsday asked, walking out onto the cabin's porch.

"There are some in the communal bathrooms, just across the way." Chris answered.

"Communal bathrooms? But I'm not Catholic." Lindsay said.

"Not communion: _communal_." Chris said in irritation.

"It means we shower together." Gwen said, sitting on the porch steps. "Idiot."

"AWWW, NO! AWW, COME ON!" Lindsay wailed, while Gwen covered her ears.

"It'll be okay." Said a brunette with glasses and braces, patting Lindsay on he arm reassuringly.

"Excuse me, Chris?" Geoff called, joining Gwen and Lindsay on the steps. "Is there a chaperone of any kind in this facility?"

"You're all sixteen years old." Chris answered. "As old as a counselor in training at a regular summer camp. So other than myself, you'll be unsupervised." Chris looked around at the campers who were still outside. "You've got half an hour to unpack and meet me back at the main lodge, starting now."

"Nice." Geoff said.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHH!" A scream cut through the air, drawing campers from all of the cabins to the girl's side of the Killer Bass cabin.

"Oh man that white girl can scream." Leshawna said as they looked into the cabin, where Lindsay was shaking in fear as a cockroach crawled towards her.

"What is it?" She asked. "Kill it! Kill it!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH !" Screamed DJ, jumping onto one of the beds and breaking it in half.

"That was my bed." Gwen said.

Harold ran in and began stomping on the floor, trying to squash the cockroach, which managed to evade him repeatedly.

Half of the girls screamed and moved to higher ground – the top bunks, while Leshawna and Harold tried to stomp on the cockroach.

Suddenly, Duncan appeared with an axe and brought it up. Just as he was about to swing down and slice the cockroach into two, another scream was heard.

"NO! DON'T KILL THAT POOR THING!" Shrieked a pale girl with pale blonde hair. Duncan froze, staring at the blonde girl with a quizzical look on his face. The girl seized the opportunity to reach down and scoop up the cockroach in her hands. "There, there you sweet, innocent creature."

With everyone staring after her with a mixture of amazement and disgust, the girl carried the cockroach out of the cabin.

"That's one way to get rid of a cockroach." Gwen said, still looking disgusted.

"I can't believe she picked it up!" Said Heather in a tone of revulsion. "With her _hands_!"

"Girl's got nerve." Leshawna said in agreement.

"If you ever see one of those things again, just call me and I'll get rid of it for you." Tyler said to Lindsay.

"Okay!" She said with a smile.

"They always go for the jocks." Duncan said, rolling his eyes.

"If you're lonely, I bet Roach-girl is free." Heather said. "She doesn't mind cockroaches – she could take you in and look after you with all her other creepy-crawly pets."

"Thanks, but no thanks." Duncan said. "I actually have standards, thank you."

"Really? A criminal like you?" Heather asked. "Can't be too wide a selection of girls who will actually have you."

"I came to thank you for not chopping that innocent little creature in half." said a soft voice from the doorway. It was the roach-girl, and it was apparent that she'd heard the entire exchange between Duncan and Heather. However, she didn't seem affected by their words in the slightest.

"Awww. . . she came back for you!" Heather hissed.

Her pales eyes met Heather's. "It was very brave of you to come here, and broadcast your insecurities to the world."

"What?" Heather asked, looking both bewildered and annoyed.

"You can't stand the idea of people disliking you without reason, so you're mean to others so that you can hide your insecurities and reassure yourself by telling yourself that that is why others don't like you." Dawn said solemnly.

Heather's eyes went wide in shock. "How dare you?! You don't know anything about me!" she snapped as Duncan began to laugh.

"But it's all there in your aura."

"My aura? Ugh, this cabin has a strict no-witches policy." Heather said, flipping her hair as she gave the girl a rather condescending wave. "Buh-bye Roach Queen."

* * *

**Confessional**

_Duncan was still laughing as he sat in the confessional. "That was. . . priceless. Just the look on her face, ha!"_

Static.

"_Creepy witch girl is going down." Heather sat in the confessional, her arms crossed. "And just so you all know – I am NOT insecure."_

Static.

_Geoff was holding his stomach. "That was the most disgusting-_

Static.

_Dakota looked like she was in pain. "-grossest-"_

Static.

_Leshawna looked ill. "-nastiest-"_

Static.

_Courtney was holding her mouth as though she was going to throw up. "-vile-"_

Static.

_Alejandro looked just as ill. "-revolting-"_

Static.

_Gwen was next, looking very nauseous. "-ghastly-"_

Static.

_Noah looked repulsed. "-abhorrent-"_

Static.

_Heather was in the confessional again, looking very unwell this time. "-gruesome-"_

Static.

_Zoey's face was green. "-most awful-"_

Static.

_Owen was rubbing his stomach and looking pleased. "-bestest meal I've ever had! Delicious! I give it five stars!"_

* * *

"Next time on Total Drama Island:" Chris's voice announced as the camera zoomed in on the one-thousand foot high cliff. "_Your very first challenge is to jump off this one thousand foot high cliff into the lake!_"

* * *

**Next Episode Preview:**

_Geoff in the confessional. "I'm looking at this guy and thinking there's no way he's gonna make it."_

Static.

"_I actually thought 'if he jumps this, he's going to die'." Gwen said._

* * *

**Bonus point to anyone who noticed that I only changed what teams the girls were on.**

**Please review! :3**

**A Total Drama Roleplay needs campers! **Find it by adding a period between fanfiction and net and going to the following url: fanfictionnet/forum/A-Total-Drama-Roleplay/97922/


	2. Not So Happy Campers: Part Two

**Whew, this took ages to finish!**

**Has anyone noticed that the redheads in Total Drama are all lacking something major? Izzy lacks sanity, Zoey lacks friends (and a personality – but I still like her, if only because she's pretty) and Scott lacks a heart.**

**I don't own Total Drama.**

**I hope you like it!**

* * *

"Last time on Total Drama Island, thirty-seven teens found themselves at a crappy summer camp!" Chris announced. "Forced to endure disgusting food and less-than-desirable living arrangements, the drama is already starting to heat up on Total Drama Island!"

_**Cue theme song.**_

"The first part of your very first challenge is to jump off this one thousand foot high cliff into the lake!" Chris announced to the crowd of teens with a broad smile on his face.

"You cannot be serious!" DJ said.

"Piece of cake." Bridgette commented to Cameron, who was looking doubtful.

"If you look down, you will see two marked areas. The wider ring represents the part of the lake that we have filled with psychotic, man-eating freshwater sharks! And insider that area you can see a smaller area - that is your target area; the part of the lake that we're about ninety percent sure is safe."

"What do you mean 'ninety percent sure'?!" Cameron asked in alarm.

"For each member of your team that jumps and actually survives, you will find a crate of supplies below. In each crate you will find supplies you will need to complete part two of the challenge: building a hot-tub!" Chris explained. "The team with the best one gets to keep it for the rest of the summer! And the team with the worst hot-tub will be sending someone home tonight! Killer Bass – you're up first!"

"So dudes, who's jumping first?" Geoff asked, peering over the edge of the cliff.

"I'm sorry, there's no way I'm doing this." Heather said.

"Why not?" Asked the geeky brunette, Beth.

"Hello, we're on _national tv_. I can't get my hair wet." Heather said.

"If she's not doing it, then I'm not either." Stated a blonde in a blue bandana, Lindsay.

"Oh, you're doing it." Leshawna said.

"Says who?"

"Says me. I'm not losing our first challenge because you got your hair did, you spoiled little daddy's girl."

"Back off you ghetto glamour too-tight pants-wearing rap-star wannabe."

"Mall-shopping, ponytail-wearing, teen-girl reading peeking at high school prom queen."

"Well at least I'm popular."

"You're jumping!"

"Make me!" Heather challenged, not expecting Leshawna to meet the challenge. Heather's thin physique made it easy for Leshawna to pick her up and toss her over the edge of the cliff. As the plummeted towards the water, she vowed vengeance. "LESHAWNA, YOU ARE SO DEAD!"

"Hey, I threw you into the safe zone, didn't I?" Leshawna called down to the girl as she splashed into the lake. Then, before taking the plunge herself, she commented to herself. "I just hope I can hit it too."

Lindsay, Gwen, Duncan, Harold, Geoff, Tyler, and Ezekiel followed suit, until only Beth, DJ and Katie remained.

"I can't do it." Beth said, shaking. "I'm too scared."

"I can't do it either." DJ said. "I'm afraid of heights – have been ever since I was a kid."

Chris handed them chicken hats and directed them to the path down the hill while their teammates mocked them with chicken sounds from below.

"Nine jumpers and two chickens for the Bass. One left to go." Chris stated, looking at his clipboard.

"I'm not jumping without Sadie!" Katie cried out, clutching her best friend's hand.

"I can't jump without Katie!" Sadie agreed.

"Can we switch teams?" Katie asked, before the two began to beg in unison.

"Please please please please please please please please please please please please please-"

"ENOUGH!" Chris shouted.

"I'll switch teams." Izzy volunteered with a shrug, but Chris shook his head.

"No, now I'm annoyed. Either jump or don't jump."

Katie looked at her best friend and then shook her head. "I can't do it without you, Sadie!"

Chris handed her a chicken hat and the dark-haired girl made her way towards the trail down the slope, moving slowly as if hesitant to make the journey alone.

"Bears, you're up next." Chris said.

"Any volunteers?" Bridgette asked, looking at her team.

"Sha-Lightning will be first!" said an athletic looking boy as he stepped forward. He was the first Bear to take the plunge, followed shortly after by Izzy, Sierra, B and Sam.

"I can't do it without Katie!" Sadie cried.

"Come on, why don't we jump together?" Bridgette suggested, offering her hand to the girl. Sadie was reluctant, but eventually nodded and the two jumped together, followed shortly after by Mike, Brick and Scott – Scott screaming hysterically as he desperately tried to clear the shark-infested water in which he had landed.

Eva was the last Bear to take the plunge.

"I can't do it!" Cameron protested. "I can't swim!"

Chris handed him a chicken hat.

"Excuse me, Chris - I have a medical condition." Courtney said.

"What condition?"

"A condition that prevents me from jumping off of cliffs." she said.

"Are you sure you wanna do that? You could cost your team the win. And then they'll hate you."

"It's a calculated risk." Courtney said. "I've seen the other team, I don't think all of them will jump."

Chris handed her a chicken hat, and she made her way towards the trail, where the bubble boy was on the verge of an anxiety attack.

"Gophers, you're up!" Chris said. "If you can beat the Bears, I'll throw in a cart to help with the crates."

"Awesome!" Trent said.

"Uh-uh. I ain't getting my hair wet." Ann Maria stated.

"But senorita, if you do not jump, we will lose the challenge." Alejandro said, taking the girl's sprayed-orange hand in his own.

Ann Maria blushed under her tan, but sighed. "Okay, I'll jump. But I'm not going first."

"Does anyone want to go first?" Zoey asked with a hopeful smile.

"I would say ladies first, but in this situation, that is not the most gentlemanly path of discourse." Alejandro said, his teal gaze surveying his team. "If nobody has any objections, I will go first."

Zoey, Ann Maria and Dakota were quick to follow Alejandro's lead, diving into the water after him eagerly.

"My great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather invented swimming. Before him, people just flapped their arms around and sank to the bottom." Staci said. "And my great-great-great-great-great-great uncle invented swimsuits. Before him, people used to swim in their everyday clothes."

Noah and Dawn exchanged a glance, already tired of hearing Staci's ancestral stories and hurried to the edge of the cliff, jumping one after the other. Cody followed suit, and then Justin.

Staci glanced at Chris, who was tallying the score on his clipboard. "My great-great-great grandmother invented clipboards. Before her, paper just flopped in half when you tried to write on it."

"Shut up and jump already!" Jo growled.

"My great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather invented jumping. Before him, people just fell."

Jo, increasingly annoyed by the brunette, gave her a hard shove and sent her flying off the end of the cliff. Then she breathed a sigh of relief. "Ah, silence." Then she herself jumped.

"Let's do this." Trent said, giving a high-five to his overweight teammate, before sprinting to the end of the cliff and diving in.

"One camper left. You need this jump for the win. No pressure." Chris said. Then he paused and laughed. "Okay, there's pressure."

"You can do it Owen!" called the boy's teammates from below.

* * *

**Confessional**

_Owen was sitting in the confessional. "I was pretty darn nervous. See, the thing is – I'm not that strong a swimmer."_

Static.

_Geoff was next. "I'm looking at this guy and thinking there's no way he's gonna make it."_

Static.

"_I could sense Owen's determination even from the bottom of the cliff. His aura was magnificent during the challenge." Dawn said. "However, I could not help fearing for his safety should he complete the challenge."_

Static.

_Alejandro looked at the camera nonchalantly. "If he had not jumped, I would have had him voted off. There is no room for weakness on this team."_

Static.

"_I actually thought 'if he jumps this, he's going to die'." Gwen said._

* * *

"Take a good run at it, Buddy!" Chris suggested, and Owen nodded. "You can do this."

"I'm going to die now. I'm going to fricken' die now." Letting out a battle-cry, Owen took off at a run while his team screamed encouragement – some from the beach and some from the water. Owen reached the point where the land ended and leaped off the cliff, beginning to scream the moment he began his descent. "OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHH CRAP!"

He hit the water with such force that it sent a tidal wave onto the beach, bowling over every contestant on the beach, and beaching everyone that had been in the water – including the rescue boat.

"The Winners: the Screaming Gophers!" Chris announced via megaphone.

"That was awesome, Dude!" Trent called. Then, seeing that Owen had an unsure look on his face, frowned. "What's wrong?"

"I, uh, think I lost my bathing suit."

The Gophers quickly worked as a team to load their crates onto the carts that Chris had provided them with the Bass and the Bears were struggling with the heavy crates. The Bass were pushing their crates while several members of the Bears team were strong enough to pick up their crates and carry them.

* * *

"We need to work as a team." Leshawna stated. "Everyone who can pick up a crate by themselves – do it. Anyone who can't – get a partner. Pushing these crates across the sand isn't getting us ahead in this race – we need to try a new strategy."

"Who made you team leader?" Duncan asked, rolling his eyes in annoyance

"Nobody, but unless you wanna get eliminated this round, I suggest that you listen to me. We don't need to be in first place, but we can't be last." Leshawna said. "So find a partner and pick up your crate!"

* * *

Courtney was pushing a crate along in the sand when suddenly she pulled her hand away from the crate and shook it in alarm. "Ow! I think I just got a splinter!"

Eva stalked back and picked up the large wooden box with ease. "Just pick up the damn crate." she snarled at Courtney, dropping the box back on the ground.

Chris drove up on his bright red ATV and raised an eyebrow at the teens. "What's up with you guys? You're way behind the other teams."

"The Gophers are already working on opening their crates." Chris said. Then he laughed. "Might take them awhile, seeing as you're only allowed to use your teeth to open the crates. I thought of that one myself!"

"You can't be serious." Bridgette said, unimpressed.

As Chris drove away on his ATV to catch up with the Bass, Courtney put her hands on her hips and frowned. "We need a project manager. Since I'm the only one here with CIT experience, I'm electing myself."

"Oh goody." Scott commented, rolling his eyes.

"Right, we have the numbers advantage against the other teams. We should use that to secure our team's victory." Courtney said, ignoring Scott's comment completely. Looking around, she nodded. "We need to figure out which boxes are the heaviest. We'll give them to our strongest players and the rest of us can take the lighter ones. That will make moving the crates more efficient."

Courtney's teammates seemed reluctant at first, but couldn't find any reason to refuse her plan. Courtney herself judged the weight of the boxes, then assigned them to people she thought looked strong enough to carry them accordingly.

"Alright, let's get a move on!" Courtney said, and her team hoisted the crates us and began to move. Except one person began walking the wrong way. Courtney frowned. "B, the campsite is the other way."

The silent boy ignored her and took his box to the edge of the beach and the forest, where he placed it on the ground. Then, he disappeared into the bush while Courtney frowned.

"That idiot! What does he think he's doing?!" Courtney said, putting her box down and storming over to where he'd put his box down. "Hey, where are you going?! Stop right now! Are you even listening to me?! I'm in charge! You have to listen to me!"

Silent B remained just that – silent, and he continued on as though .

"B, what in the world do you think you're doin-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" Courtney screamed at the top of her lungs as she was very suddenly fired into the air, high above the tops trees, with B's wooden crate.

"What just happened?!" Bridgette asked in alarm, the remaining members of the Thrashing Bear team sprinting with their boxes to where B's crate and Courtney had stood only moments before.

"Wow!" Cameron exclaimed in awe as they discovered that Courtney had stepped onto a see-saw type of device. The same device on which B had placed his crate and then used his own weight on the other end of the long board to fire both his crate and an unwitting Courtney across the sky.

"You're a genius!" Eva said, for once almost not glaring as she placed her crate on the end of the device. B prepared to send Eva's stuff back to camp.

The girl with curly ginger hair placed her crate on top of Eva's. Then, as B prepared to jump, she cried out in excitement and jumped on top of the two crates as well. "Izzy wants to ride too!"

* * *

"Alright! We beat the other team here!" Leshawna said with a sigh of relief as she put her crate down.

"Yeah! Let's get this thing built!" Tyler exclaimed enthusiastically, grabbing a crow-bar to use to pry the crates open with.

"Not so fast!" Chris said, appearing on his red ATV. "You guys can only use your teeth to get those crates open!"

"You've got to be kidding me." Leshawna said. "Do I look like a beaver to you?"

"At least we're ahead of the Bears!" Heather said, glaring at Leshawna. "Get chewing!"

Leshawna paused and looked around. "Does anyone else hear screaming?"

"WOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOO-YEAH!"

"I think it's gettin' louder, eh." Ezekiel said as the Bass looked around for the source of the screaming.

Suddenly Beth pointed to the sky. "Look!"

"Hit the deck!" Leshawna screamed as they all caught sight of the object that was hurtling through the sky towards them.

All members of both the Gopher and Bass teams dove under the decks of their cabins as the object hit the ground in front of the Bears' cabin. Seconds later a second, smaller crate landed neatly on top of it.

Then, there was a loud _SPLASH!_ as something landed in the Gopher's almost-finished hot tub, which promptly collapsed and flooded the area in front of the Gopher's cabin. As half of the Gophers stared in shock, a girl with bright ginger hair sat up from the centre of the Gopher's smashed hot tub.

She began to giggle and clapped her hands. "HAHA, THAT WAS AWESOME! AGAIN, AGAIN!"

Over the course of a few minutes, several other crates joined the two in front of the Bears' cabin.

The last crate of the Bears' showed up at the same time as the majority of the Bears' team. As the last crate landed on the top of the stack, all of the crates gave way and fell open, revealing the hot tub parts contained within them.

"Izzy, are you okay?" Bridgette asked, rushing over to help her teammate, who still seemed a little dazed. The girl nodded eagerly in response.

"Yeah! It was awesome!"

"Senorita, are you sure? You took quite a fall." Alejandro asked, having emerged from under the deck and extending his hand to Izzy in offering. "May I offer you a hand?"

"Wow-ee." Izzy said, her eyes wide as she studied that handsome Latino boy from the ground for a moment. Then, accepting he hand he'd offered her, she stood and proceeded to shake like a dog, covering both Bridgette and Alejandro in water from the hot tub.

"She's not going to be okay when I'm finished with her!" Jo snarled, crawling out from under the Gopher's cabin's desk and storming over to the redhead angrily. "You broke our team's hot tub!"

"She didn't do it on purpose." Eva said as the other campers emerged from under the decks of their cabins. Then, without awaiting a response from the blonde in the gray track suit, Eva turned back to her team. "Bears, let's build this hot tub!"

"Where's Courtney?" Bridgette piped up, glancing around.

"Oohhhh. . ." Came an agonized groan from above. Looking up, they found Courtney in a nearby pine tree, hanging over one of the larger branches, on a part of the branch that looked dangerously thin. At the bottom of the tree, they saw the remnants of the crate that Courtney had flown with.

"Come on Bears! We don't have all day to finish this hot tub!" Eva growled, spurring her team into action as B arrived. He'd taken a short-cut through the woods and as he walked out of the forest, Courtney slipped off of her branch and fell into his arms.

"Put. . . me. . . down. . ." Courtney said as fiercely as she could, which wasn't very fiercely as she seemed to be quite winded. B complied immediately and Courtney dragged herself to the Bear's cabin, clutching her stomach as she opened the door into the girls' side and disappeared within.

"Come on B!" Eva snapped, holding up a piece of board and a piece of metal piping. "We need your smarts to assemble this thing!"

"Come on Bass!" Leshawna said. "Let's get a move on! We can still win this thing!"

* * *

"This is useless." Cody told his team, holding up several broken parts. "Half of our hot tub pieces are broken!"

Sighing in irritation, several Gophers sat on the steps leading up to their cabin to discuss their next course of action.

"So we're gonna lose the challenge?" Ann Maria said, crossing her arms. "Oh, uh-uh, gingy's going down."

"Hold up Helmet Hair." Jo said, smirking. "I have an idea."

"Do tell, senorita." Alejandro said.

"While you're here? I don't think so." Jo snorted. "You were pretty quick to jump up and help that girl from the other team."

"You don't honestly think I would betray my own team for the sake of a girl, do you?" Alejandro asked. "No, I was merely hoping to distract both her and her teammate."

Jo didn't look convinced, but began to whisper the details of her plan anyway. "We can sabotage the other two teams by switching our broken pieces for pieces of theirs that aren't broken."

"Mmmm, I like the way you think." Alejandro said, standing up. "Come on team, we can do this!"

Alejandro grabbed one of the broken pieces and sauntered over to the Bears'. Putting the broken piece down as inconspicuously as he could, he picked up the unbroken piece beside it and wandered back to his team.

"Nice work." Jo said with a nod. "Cody, Noah – you two work on putting this thing together."

"Might want to reassign Cody." Noah commented, glancing over at the brunette, who had wandered over to the Bass team and was trying to flirt with the goth girl, Gwen.

"You have great hair, you know that, right?" Cody said with a smile.

Gwen rolled her eyes. "Uhh. . . thanks."

"Will you guys please stop screwing around?! You're gonna lose us the challenge!" Leshawna said to Duncan and Tyler, who were fighting over a hammer. Tyler let go and Duncan fell backwards, he hammer flying out of his hands and striking Harold.

"MY KIWIS!" Harold gasped, doubling over in pain.

"Look, you need to shape up! You're playing on my last nerve." Leshawna said to Duncan. "This is a team challenge and unless you want us to vote you out, I suggest you start trying to act like a team player!"

"Thanks for the memo, _mom_." Duncan replied tauntingly, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, you wanna be glad I'm not your mama!" Leshawna said, putting her hands on her hips. "'Cause I would'a beaten that bad attitude outta you."

* * *

**Confessional**

_Duncan was sitting the confessional. "I don't know who Leshawna thinks she is, and what she thinks gives her the right to boss me around, but she's starting to get on my nerves."_

Static.

"_B is going down." Courtney was still looking miserable and clutching her stomach. She was less winded now. "The first time we lose a challenge, he's gone. Mark my words." She winced and clutched her stomach tighter. "Ugh, I think I broke a rib when I hit that tree."_

Static.

_Cody was sitting the confessional with his hands behind his head. "I know we're on different teams and everything, but I'm pretty sure Gwen digs me."_

* * *

Courtney emerged from the cabin, still clutching her stomach. She slowly made her way down the steps and began to inspect her team's hot tub.

"Princess lives." Duncan said with a smirk. "You enjoy your flight?"

Courtney rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Leave me alone, you delinquent freak. Can't you annoy someone on your own team?"

"Courtney!" Mike and Bridgette greeted in unison as they approached the brunette.

"Are you okay?" Mike asked.

"Yeah, we've been so worried about you." Bridgette said.

"Not worried enough to come and check on me." Courtney snorted.

"We've been working to get our hot-tub built. We don't want to have to vote anyone out tonight." Bridgette said.

"Right." Courtney said, not seeming convinced. She now moved to inspect their hot tub. "This hot tub doesn't look very sturdy."

"Yeah, some of the pieces were broken." Scott commented.

"They probably got broken when B fired them across the island." Courtney commented.

"A bunch of our pieces were broken too." Duncan commented.

Courtney glared at him. "Can't you bother your own team instead of me?"

"But where's all the fun in that, Princess?" He asked, earning an angrier glare from the freckle-faced brunette.

"Humph." She said, turning her back to the punk boy and instead grabbing a role of duck tape to patch up their hot tub with.

Chris rode up on his ATV then. "Time's up!"

"Done!" Cody said, pouring the last bucket of water into the hot tub.

Chris walked up to Gopher's hot tub and gave it a satisfied nod. "This is an awesome hot tub."

"Awesome!" Trent and Zoey exclaimed, giving each other a high five.

Chris began to inspect the Bass's hot tub. "Err. . . okay . . ."

"Half the pieces were broken!" Leshawna said defensively, putting her hands on her hips.

Chris moved to the Bears' hot tub. "Well, both the Bass's and the Bears' hot tubs have character, but I declare the Gophers the winners!"

"Who has to vote someone off tonight?" Heather asked, looking from her team to the Bears' team. "Us or the Bears?"

"Well, your hot tubs both suck." Chris said with a frown, glancing down at his clipboard. "But the Bears had more jumpers than you guys, so they get second place. Bass, I'll see you at the campfire tonight. Gophers, enjoy your wicked hot tub party!"

* * *

**Confessional**

_Gwen sat in the confessional. "You let our team down today. That's why you're out."_

Static.

_Duncan wasn't looking impressed. "Take your bossiness and your big mouth and just go home."_

Static.

_Heather appeared on the screen. "You chicken out, you get voted out. That's how it works."_

Static.

_Geoff was next. "You didn't help our team today and we lost. You're out, sorry."_

Static.

_Leshawna was last. "You need a serious attitude adjustment. Go get one."_

* * *

"Bass, welcome to our very first campfire ceremony." Chris greeted, holding up a plate of marshmallows. "Here at camp, marshmallows are more than just a tasty snack. They represent life. I have eleven marshmallows here. You've cast your votes and tonight you will send someone down the dock of shame where they will board the boat of losers and leave the game. And whoever gets voted out cannot come back. Ever."

"Tyler, Gwen, Geoff." Chris said, tossing each a marshmallow as he said their names.

"Ezekiel, Heather, Lindsay." The three rose as they caught their marshmallows and made their way to stand with the other safe contestants.

"Harold, Leshawna,-"

"Damnit!" Duncan hissed.

"Duncan."

"You've got to be kidding me!" Leshawna said as she caught her marshmallow. She and Duncan exchanged dirty looks.

"I have two marshmallows left. None of you kids jumped today." Chris said, looking at Beth, Katie and DJ. "You're the reason your team lost today's challenge."

"DJ." Chris tossed a marshmallow to the boy, relieving his nerves.

"Beth, Katie, this is it." Chris looked back and forth between the two girls. "And the final marshmallow goes to:"

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

"Beth."

"What?!" Beth gasped in astonishment that her team had chosen to eliminate Katie over herself.

"Your 'BFF' jumped without you. You lost the challenge because you can't do anything without her." Heather told Katie, who stood up, looking numb.

"Katie, it's time for you to walk the dock of shame and board the boat of losers!" Chris prompted.

"Can someone tell Sadie that I'll miss her?" Katie asked sadly as she left her teammates. "Tell her to win for me! I'll be rooting for her!"

"I will." DJ volunteered, waving the girl good-bye while trying to hide his relief that it was her and not him being eliminated tonight.

"Thank you!" Katie said, on the verge of tears as she boarded the boat that took her away from the island.

* * *

"What challenges will the contestants face next time on Total Drama Island?"

* * *

**Please review! :3**

**Please check out some of my other Total Drama stories and be sure to vote in the poll I posted on my profile! :)**

**A Total Drama Roleplay needs campers! **Find it by adding a period between fanfiction and net and going to the following url: fanfictionnet/forum/A-Total-Drama-Roleplay/97922/


	3. The Big Sleep

**I would like to thank everyone who has been reviewing, it's inspiring to read what you guys think about my story! As the drama intensifies, you guys should let me know what you think of the ships and twists in the story! I absolutely love hearing from you guys. And if you have any suggestions as to what direction you think the story should take, feel free to let me know and I might incorporate your ideas into future chapters! :)**

**I don't own Total Drama.**

* * *

"Last time on Total Drama Island, our teens competed in their first challenge – a one thousand foot cliff dive into a shark infested lake, followed by a team building challenge." Chris said. "The teams struggled with some creative differences. The Bass clashed over attitude, Izzy smashed the Gophers' hot tub and the Bears hung Courtney in a tree! In the end, the Gophers scored a sweet hot tub party and the Bass sent Katie home. What challenges will these teens face this time on Total Drama Island?"

_**Cue theme song.**_

The sound of an airhorn caused Leshawna to sit up in alarm, and she banged her head on the bunk above her. "Ow!" Grabbing her forehead, she stalked over to the window. "It's seven in the morning! Do I look like a farmer to you?"

The campers dressed and assembled in front of the cabins, each looking very sleepy.

"Hope you slept well campers because your next challenge starts in exactly one minute!" Chris taunted, looking well rested.

"But that doesn't leave any time for breakfast!" Owen cried out in protest, looking alarmed.

"You'll get breakfast, Owen, don't worry." Chris said, and as soon as Owen looked relieved, he chuckled. "AFTER you complete a twenty kilometre run around the lake!"

"Oh, so you think you're funny now?!" Eva snarled, lunging at Chris. It was only due to the quick reactions of Silent B and Bass members Geoff and Duncan that were able to keep Eva from pummelling the show's host.

"Eva! Try to control your temper!" Courtney hissed, looking recovered from the injuries that she had sustained from the previous challenge.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?!" Eva demanded, glaring at Chris.

"A little bit." Chris commented smugly. He raised his arm and tapped the gold Rolex on his wrist. "You have thirty seconds!"

* * *

**Confessional**

"_Ok, that girl Eva has got to get a handle on her temper. She's only been here one day and she's already thrown her suitcase out a window and broken the lock on one of the bathroom doors." Courtney said._

* * *

"You guys are up early." Jo panted, arriving from a jog around the island.

"You guys are starting already?" Brick panted, arriving seconds behind the blonde.

"Where have you been?!" Courtney demanded, looking at Brick.

"I went for an early morning jog around the perimeter of the island, MA'AM." Brick responded, saluting the girl.

"And lost to a girl!" Jo sneered.

"Well I hope you didn't wear yourself out, because that's what today's challenge is!" Courtney told him, her hands on her hips.

"Losing to a girl?" Lightning asked, causing several members of his team to facepalm.

"I won't let my team down, MA'AM." Brick said.

"At ease, soldier." Courtney responded with a smile.

"Permission to stop looking like a dork, MA'AM!" Duncan said, mocking Brick's salute.

"Denied, delinquent freak." Courtney responded, rolling her eyes.

* * *

**Confessional**

"_So far, on my team I think Brick is the only one who's actually okay." Courtney said. "He respects my authority, unlike _some _people around here. But that punk on the other team, Duncan, is really starting to get on my nerves! Can't he just leave me alone?!"_

* * *

"Okay runners! On your marks! Get set!" Chris said, pausing for dramatic effect. "Go!"

Most of the campers took off running, while some instead chose to walk.

Chris rode after them on his red ATV, while speaking through a megaphone. "Pick up the pace campers! You're not back by dinnertime, you don't eat!"

"Nice work, scrawny!" Jo called to Noah as he passed her. She'd stopped and was glaring at Owen, who was passed out face-down in a puddle. "Come on Owen! Get up! You're going to be fine! Get get your butt in gear and start running!"

"Can't. . . . catch. . . . breath. . . ." Owen panted, licking the puddle. "Must. . . . have. . . . condition."

"Yeah, it's called over-eating, you should look into it." Heather said, flipping her hair as she passed the duo.

"Are you going to let her talk to you like that, Owen?" Jo demanded.

"Yes?" Owen answered uncertainly between gasps for breath.

"Wrong!" Jo shouted. "Are you going to let her talk to you like that?!"

"No?" Owen panted.

"That's the spirit!" Jo said. "So get up! Food's waiting for you on the other side! You like food, don't you Owen?"

"I can't do it." Owen gasped, beginning to sob.

"Yes you can!" Jo shouted. "And if you don't pick yourself up and try, I'm going to take my shoe and wedge it somewhere very painful!"

Owen winced fearfully and grunted in pain as he began to work on getting to his feet. Jo, who was tapping her foot impatiently as she waited for Owen to get up, only had to glance at Dakota as the girl walked by, and the girl put her cell phone away and took off at a jog.

"You wanna know who invented marathons?" Staci began, holding up her finger as though she was about to make an important announcement. "My great-great-great-"

"GET GOING!" Jo screamed at the brunette, who fell silent immediately and fled in terror.

"I can't run without Katie!" Sadie wailed. "I can't believe she's gone!"

"Come on Lady Lard! If we lose this challenge, I can personally promise that you will go home tonight!" Eva snarled at the girl. "So get moving!"

Sadie began to sob and took off at a run, her arms outstretched in front of her as she cried her eyes out.

* * *

"Someone clear a table! Stat!" Owen cried, rushing in with a collapsed Noah in his arms.

"Ugh, I made it." Leshawna said, collapsing on the floor as she entered the Mess Hall.

"I think I'm having heart palpitations!" Harold gasped, clutching his chest before tripping over Leshawna and doing a face-plant.

"Congratulations campers! You survived!" Chris said.

"We had our whole team here first!" Courtney announced gleefully. "We won the challenge!"

Chris laughed as the Bears cheered over their victory. "Not so fast campers. That wasn't the challenge."

"It wasn't?!" Eva snarled, looking about ready to lunge at Chris's throat. "Then why'd we have to do it?!"

"You'll find out in good time." Chris said evasively. "Is anyone hungry?"

He pulled a cord and it pulled the curtains away, revealing the most delicious looking and smelling food any of the contestants had seen in days.

* * *

**Confessional**

"_We've been eating brown sludge since we got here." Gwen said. "So when I saw that buffet table, I nearly cried."_

Static.

"_Food that can actually be classified under one of the food groups!" Cameron said gleefully, his eyes wide with joy._

Static.

"_There was turkey and mashed potatoes and cheese covered broccoli and stuffing and pancakes drowning in maple syrup and baked beans and corn on the cob and -" Owen began to sob. "I'm going to need a moment. Oohooo, oohooo, oohooo."_

* * *

The majority of the campers were moaning with the satisfaction of having stuffed themselves full of so much delicious food.

"Alright campers," Chris announced, appearing with a megaphone. "Time for part two of the challenge!"

"I thought eating was the second part." Owen said, his face smeared with gravy.

"What more can you possibly want from us?" Gwen asked, holding her full stomach.

"Ugh, weird goth girl is right." Heather said. "Haven't we been though enough?"

"Uh, let me think about that. No." Chris said facetiously. "It's time for the AWAKE-A-THON!"

"Awww, crap." Jo said with a growl, looking at her sleepy teammates.

"The what-a-thon?" Owen asked in confusion.

"Don't worry, this is an easy one. The team with the last camper standing wins invincibility!" Chris shouted through the megaphone.

"So what you're saying is that the 20k run and the glorious turkey eating frenzy was all part of your evil plant to make it harder for us to stay awake?" Gwen asked, raising an eyebrow.

"That's right, Gwen."

"Man, he's good." Gwen said with an irritated sigh.

"MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!" Chris bellowed through the megaphone, and the teens leaped to their feet and sprinted out of the Mess Hall if only to escape the painfully loud sound of Chris's voice.

"How long do you think before everyone's out cold?" Trent asked his teammate Zoey as they made their way from the Mess Hall.

"I don't know." she said with a shrug. "A couple of hours maybe?"

* * *

"We are now twelve hours into this challenge and all thirty-six campers are still wide awake." Chris's voice announced softly.

"WOOOHOOO! Stay awake for twelve hours! I can do that in my sleep! WOOOHOOO!" Owen shouted, looking around with wide eyes, before he froze completely. Then after a few seconds, his entire body crashed to the ground.

"How do you think the other team is holding up?" Trent asked, glancing around.

"I don't know, why?" Zoey responded, trying to stifle a yawn.

"No reason." Trent replied, also yawning.

Zoey smiled. "You like someone on the other team, don't you?"

"What?" Trent asked in alarm. "No, of course not!"

"It's okay you know." Zoey said in a soft voice. "I kind of do too."

"You what?" Trent asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You know that guy Mike on the Bears team?" Zoey whispered. "He loaned me his towel on the first day. He seemed really sweet."

"Aww, that's nice. You two would look really cute together." Trent said with a smile.

"You know, my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandmother was the first person ever to pull an all-nighter." Staci announced to her team.

"Nobody cares." Noah told Staci, clearly irritated.

* * *

**Confessional**

"_So my strategy is to get two other people to form an alliance with me and take to the final three. The only question is: who can I find that is either desperate or dumb enough to do whatever I say?" Heather told the confessional cam._

* * *

"What are you doing?" Gwen asked Lindsay, who was standing on her head.

"I'm trying to make all the blood rush to my head!" Lindsay answered, somehow managing to balance on her head. "I think it's working!"

"Ooh, can I try?!" Beth asked.

"Sure!" Lindsay answered, standing herself on her head.

"Perfect." Heather said. "Lindsay, Beth, can I talk to you for a sec?"

"Sure!" Lindsay answered. The duo quickly followed Heather to a spot a little ways away from the other campers.

"Okay, I have a plan to get me and two other people to the final three. And I chose you guys." Heather explained.

"Really?" Beth asked in shock.

"You should know this is a very big deal. I am placing my trust in you. And trust is a two-way street." Heather said, pausing as Beth and Lindsay nodded in agreement. "So you'll do everything I say?"

"Sure!" Lindsay replied eagerly. Then she turned to Beth. "EEEE! We're going to the final three!"

* * *

**Confessional**

"_Oh. My. Gosh. Heather is taking me to the final three! I'm going to the final three! I'm going to the final three!" Beth gushed in excitement. Then she paused to catch her breath and made a realization. "I wonder what will happen then."_

* * *

"Speaking of alliances, you know who I think is really cute?" Lindsay said to Beth, staring at Tyler.

"Oh no, you can't date him." Heather said.

"Why not?" Lindsay asked.

"It's against the alliance rules." Heather said.

"There are rules?" Lindsay asked.

"Remember what I just said about trust, Lindsay? Of course you can always leave the alliance, but then I can't protect you from getting voted off."

"No! I wanna be in the alliance!" Lindsay said.

"Good, then it's settled." Heather said, walking away.

* * *

**Confessional**

"_Heather said I couldn't date him. She never said I couldn't _like_ him." Lindsay told the confessional camera._

* * *

"What are you staring at, Butterball?" Eva snapped, glaring at the dark haired girl.

"Oh! I didn't mean to!" Sadie cried out in response, looking at her feet. Then she looked up at Eva again, a mixture of admiration and terror in her eyes. "But. . . I was just wondering how you're so strong and how you're so good at doing stuff by yourself."

"It's called 'independence'. You should get some." Eva snarled as she put her MP3 player in her pocket and stood up. "I'm going to the bathroom."

"Oh my gosh! I have to go too!" Sadie said enthusiastically in response, standing up.

"Not so fast, Lady Lard." Eva growled. "Don't you dare follow me to the bathroom. If you've held it this long, you can hold it until I get back."

Sadie, disappointed, sat down again but continued to watch Eva. When Sadie noticed Eva's MP3 player fall out of her pocket, she stared at it.

* * *

**Confessional**

"_I wasn't sure what to do! Eva would have been so mad if I'd touched her mp3 player, but I didn't want anyone to step on it! Katie would have known what to do! I miss Katie!" Sadie wailed. "Get a hold of yourself, Sadie!" The girl told herself, taking a deep breath. "So I figured that I'd just keep watching it and then tell Eva about it when she got back."_

* * *

Heather walked casually over to the fallen mp3 player, unaware that Sadie's gaze was trained upon that one spot. Pretending to stretch, Heather bent down and picked up Eva's mp3 player, while Sadie watched in horror.

* * *

**Confessional**

"_I was so totally shocked when I saw Heather grab Eva's mp3 player! Doesn't she know how mad she'll get?" Sadie said. Then she seemed to consider another option. "Maybe she's going to give it to her when she gets back!"_

* * *

"Isn't that Eva's mp3 player?" Lindsay asked as Heather sat down beside her with the music player in her hands.

"Yep." Heather replied smugly.

"And isn't she going to be like _really_ mad when she realizes that it's gone?" Lindsay asked.

"That's exactly what I'm counting on."

* * *

_40 hours into the challenge._

Sleep had taken several campers by the forty hour mark. Dakota, who was leaning up against a stump, obviously asleep although her sunglasses hid her closed eyes. Aside from Dakota, the Gophers had also lost Ann Maria, Jo and Alejandro. Bass members Geoff, DJ, Lindsay, Harold and Beth had fallen asleep. And a handful of Bears were still awake, not including Cameron, who had passed out shortly after Owen but before Dakota, and was curled up in the fetal position on the ground, and Izzy who was snoring peacefully on the ground.

The score was:

Gophers: 8

Bass: 6

Bears: 11

Courtney was jogging on the spot, trying to keep herself awake. Justin was standing stock-still, staring at some unknown object. Dawn was meditating while Trent and Zoey were chatting.

"Favourite song?" Zoey asked.

"She will be loved." Trent answered. "Favourite colour?"

"Uh. . . I think either red or lavender." Zoey said with a yawn.

"Don't fall asleep yet!" Trent said.

"I'm okay, really." Zoey answered sleepily.

"So, how long do you think the other teams will last?" Trent said, glancing over at the Killer Bass team.

"I don't know." Zoey yawned, following his gaze. "You like that goth girl on the Killer Bass, don't you?"

"What? No, of course not." Trent said, unconvincingly. Then he lowered his head and conceded defeat. "Yes."

"You should go talk to her." Zoey suggested.

"No, it's probably best if I don't." Trent replied.

"You never know. She might like you back." Zoey said with a shrug. "I'm hoping that Mike likes me back, even though we're on different teams."

"Well . . . ." Trent said, as though he was genuinely considering the idea. Then Owen walked by them, stark naked. Zoey and Trent's eyes grew wide as they realized, and their eyes moved in unison to the pile of clothes that he'd left behind. Then they looked after him again and saw his large, pale body disappearing into the woods.

* * *

**Confessional**

"_Did I mention that I ate the entire dish of baked beans in maple syrup?" Owen asked the confessional camera. "Funny thing about baked beans: they make me sleepwalk."_

* * *

By the fifty hour mark, Beth and Lindsay had slid backwards off of their seats and were unconscious. Ezekiel and Leshawna had been lost by the Bass. Sadie, Brick and Lightning had also been lost by the Bears.

The score was:

Gophers: 6

Bass: 4

Bears: 8

Those campers who were still awake looked exhausted, with the exception of Dawn, who was still mediating and Sam, who was playing his video game. Sierra was laying on her stomach, staring longingly at the Gophers' group in a sleepy trance.

"Look at him, he's like a statue!" Zoey said as she and Trent studied Justin. "He hasn't moved in over fifty hours!"

"Yip! Yip!" Trent said, trying to distract him. He began waving his arms. "Yip! Yip! Yip! Yip!"

"Hello?" Zoey said, getting closer. "Amazing, just look at the concentration."

Then she poked his face and he moved his head around before opening his eyes, prompting both Zoey and Trent to gasp in shock.

"His eyelids are painted! I saw it!" shouted Eva, pointing at Justin.

"Shut up! Oh, I've gotta see this!" Chris said, rushing over. He studied Justin's eyes closely for a moment. "That is so freaking cool, but you're still out, dude."

Justin frowned while Zoey and Trent sat back down.

"I'm so tired." Zoey said with a yawn.

"Yeah, me too." Trent said.

Zoey sat up. "Trent, I'm going to do it."

"Do what?" he asked sleepily.

"I'm going to go over there and talk to Mike!" Zoey said confidently.

"You go girl." Trent said.

The redhead stood up and marched over to the Bears' group, seconds too late. Unfortunately what she found was Mike and Bridgette, who had been sitting next to one another when they had both succumbed to sleep, cuddled up together and very much asleep. Her eyes, which already felt like sandpaper because of her tiredness, began to sting as she fought back tears. Marching back over to where Trent sat, she sat on the ground with a sigh.

"How'd it go?" Trent asked. "What did he say?"

"Nothing, he was too busy cuddled up with Bridgette – I think her name's Bridgette, anyway." Zoey said, wiping her tears away with her palm.

"Oh, that sucks." Trent said.

"You should go talk to Gwen." Zoey whispered. "Now, before she finds someone else as well!"

"Alright, alright, I'm going." Trent said, getting to his feet. "What should I say?" When Zoey failed to respond, Trent turned to look at her. In the time it had taken him to stand up, Zoey had fallen asleep. "I guess I'm on my own then."

Taking a deep breath, Trent walked over to where Gwen sat, and sat down beside her.

"Aren't you on the other team?" Gwen asked sleepily.

"Yeah, but all the conversationalists on my team are sleeping. I need new company. Mind if I chill with you?" Trent said.

Gwen shrugged and smiled. "Go ahead."

* * *

_84 hours have passed since the challenge began._

The score was:

Gophers: 2

Bass: 3

Bears: 3

Duncan bent down and dropped Harold's fingers into a cup of warm water. Then he began to laugh. "Aw, gross! It works! Dude peed his pants!"

Harold gasped as he woke up to the sound of Duncan laughing and sat up to hide his wet trousers in panic.

"You feel the need to act out to get attention from your parents, don't you?" Dawn said, opening one of her eyes to look at Duncan.

"What? No." Duncan said with a glare at the blonde while Harold snorted with laughter. "Who are you: my juvie counsellor?"

Meanwhile, Noah woke up and began screaming almost immediately – in Cody's ear – when he realized that somehow they'd ended up snuggling together and he'd been kissing what he was now screaming into. Noah's screaming inevitably woke Cody up, who soon realized why his teammate was screaming and began to scream as well, before both boys took off running in opposite directions.

Mike and Bridgette had an equally awkward awakening. The smile on Bridgette's face disappeared when she realized that she was using Mike's chest as a pillow and when she moved to try and get away before Mike woke up and made the situation more awkward, she accidentally woke Mike up. Both felt too awkward to say anything to the other about how they'd woken up, and so stood there for a moment in an extremely awkward silence, both blushing deeply and avoiding eye contact with one another.

"So. . ." Mike began at last.

"I gotta go." Bridgette and Mike said in unison.

"Right." Mike said.

"Okay then." Bridgette said at the same time, before they walked away from one another, feeling just as awkward as they had before.

"What is the matter with you people? Fall asleep already!" Chris taunted those who hadn't fallen asleep yet, arriving with a coffee. In seconds, Gwen was in front of him, tripping in her sleepy stupor and ending up begging on her knees.

"You gotta hook me up, man! I'll even eat the grinds!" Gwen begged, reaching up towards Chris's coffee cup in desperation. "Anything!"

"Alright, you eight stay with me." Chris said to those campers who had managed to stay awake. "The rest of you – go and shower for Heaven's sake! You stink!"

Harold, not needing to be told twice, sprinted away.

Chris took a sip of his coffee before beginning to speak. "I didn't want it to come to this. I said that to Chef Hatchet last night. I said: Chef, I don't it to come to this, but darn-it, these campers are tough! So I've come up with the most boring, sleep-inducing activity I can find."

* * *

**Confessional**

"_Oh come on, what now?!" Gwen asked. Then she turned to glare at the camera. "Okay, you know what? Bring it on."_

* * *

"The history of Canada: a pop-up book." Chris announced, opening a large book. "Chapter one: the beaver. A national symbol and a 'dam' fine hat."

The remaining campers groaned at the awful pun.

* * *

In less than an hour, the group was down to four players, one Gopher, two Bass and one Bear: Dawn, Duncan, Gwen and Sam respectively.

"Alright, time for a bathroom break. Any takers?" Chris asked.

"I've held it this long, sweetheart, I can go all day." Duncan said tauntingly.

"But can you hold it another _ten_ chapters?" his teammate Gwen asked.

Duncan's eyes grew wide and he jumped up. "Fine."

"You've got five minutes." Chris said. "As long as you don't mind a little company."

"Alright, fine, but stay out of the stall!"

* * *

An intern handed Chris a note. "And we have news! It looks like Duncan has taken a dive on the can!"

Dawn, still in a meditating position, suddenly flopped backwards. Seconds later, Gwen passed out as well, falling face-first into the dirt.

"It looks like we've got a winner!"

"Yeah, I beat the game!" Sam said victoriously, looking up from his video-game. "Hey, where did everyone go?"

"Sam, you won the challenge!" Chris said.

"Score!" Sam said.

"The Thrashing Bears win!"

* * *

"Grahh!" Eva growled, tearing the sheets off of her bed and ripping things out of her suitcase as she searched for it. "I can't find my mp3 player! I need my music!"

"Heather _didn't_ give it back to you?" Sadie asked in alarm.

"_What_ did you just say?" Eva asked, turning on Sadie who cowered in fear.

"Y-you dropped it l-last n-night! On y-your way t-to the bathroom! H-Heather picked it up!" Sadie explained in terror. "I t-thought she was going to k-keep it s-safe and g-give it b-back to you!"

"Heather?!" Eva snarled.

Sadie nodded fearfully. "She picked it up right after you dropped it, I think she saw it fall out of your pocket."

Eva clenched her fists, and when Sadie flinched, Eva forced a smile and roughly patted Sadie on the top of her head. "You did good, kid."

Then Eva stormed out of the cabin.

* * *

**Confessional**

"_Eva, you are so going down!" said Heather's voice from behind a bag of frozen peas. Heather lowered the bag for a moment to reveal a chipped tooth, bruised cheeks, two black eyes and a swollen, bloodied lip. "Ow! I'll get you back for this!"_

* * *

"Gophers, welcome to your first campfire ceremony." Chris said. "Here at camp, marshmallows represent life. Whoever doesn't hear their name called tonight doesn't get a marshmallow, and whoever doesn't get a marshmallow has to walk the dock of shame, take the boat of losers and you are out of the game, forever. And you can't come back, ever."

"My great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather-" Staci began.

"Let me guess: 'invented marshmallows'?" Noah said, glaring at the girl.

"You've heard of him?" Staci asked, looking surprised.

"No, a lucky guess." Noah said sarcastically.

"Dawn, Trent, Zoey, Cody and Jo."

The five campers hurried up to claim their marshmallows.

"Alejandro, Ann Maria, Noah and Dakota."

The next four campers grabbed their marshmallows eagerly while the remaining two campers, Owen and Staci, exchanged looks.

"And the last marshmallow goes to:"

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

"Owen!"

"What? Why?" Staci asked. "He was the first one to fall asleep!"

"Yeah, but you're always the last to shut up." Noah said.

"Staci, it's time for you to walk the dock of shame and take the boat of losers-"

"My great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather invented boats. Before him-"

"WE DON'T CARE!" shouted Staci's entire team as Chef arrived and pushed the girl down the end of the dock and onto the boat.

"Have a good night's sleep tonight, Gophers, you're all safe. . ." Chris said. "For now."

* * *

"That's another camper down. Thirty-five contestants remain in the game, thirty-four left to eliminate until we can crown a winner! Who will get the boot next time on Total Drama Island?"

* * *

**Please review! :3**

**Please check out some of my other Total Drama stories and be sure to vote in the poll I posted on my profile! :)**

**A Total Drama Roleplay needs campers! **Find it by adding a period between fanfiction and net and going to the following url: fanfictionnet/forum/A-Total-Drama-Roleplay/97922/


	4. The Shark in the Water

**I would like to dedica****te this chapter to ****MickeyMcFinnigan**** who suggested this idea for a challenge! It's based off of the Survivor: Gabon Lake Launch immunity challenge. However, I have modifie****d it, and with some suggestions from MickeyMcFinnigan, we think it's Total Drama Universe worthy.**

**I'd also like to thank****acosta perez jose ramiro and JupRea for their reviews this past chapter, as well as lilliflower98, American King and mgoldberg for their reviews for previous chapters. Thanks guys, I really love reading what you think! :)**

**I don't own Total Drama.**

* * *

"Last time on Total Drama Island, the teens battled the most intense challenge yet: the Awake-a-thon!" Chris announced. "After taking a 20k run around the island and then giving them a luxurious turkey dinner, our tougher competitors managed to survive for _eighty-some_ hours without falling asleep! Sam won the challenge for the Bears, Sadie rescued her team from Eva's wrath and Heather ended up with a mosaic of bruises and a bloody lip! In the end, the Gophers sent Staci home because she wouldn't shut up. What will happen tonight on Total Drama Island?"

_**Cue theme song.**_

The campers were assembled in the Mess Hall, the Gophers and the Bears looking significantly more well-rested than the Bass were. Both Gwen and Duncan had their faces on the table and were sleeping.

"Gwen, Duncan, you guys look like crap." Chris said.

"Stuff it." Duncan said, glaring at the host.

"Harold snored all night." Heather said in irritation.

"I'm so tired, I can't even feel my face." Gwen said, before her head fell against the table once more.

"Wow. Four days with no sleep, how much are you hurting?" Chris taunted.

Duncan glared at him. "Wanna find out?"

As everyone on Duncan's team, save Gwen – who had fallen asleep, dove under the table, Chris put his hands up defensively. "No, no, it's cool."

A unified gasp from the entire Bass table announced Harold's arrival. The two other teams stared at him and the graffiti that had been marked on his face with a black marker as he passed.

* * *

**Confessional**

"_I must thank Harold for his unwitting assistance in giving the Gophers the edge in today's challenge." Alejandro said._

Static_._

"_That's it Harold. Once you start-" Heather yawned. "-messing with my sleeping-" Another yawn. "-patterns, you're gone." Heather's speech was punctuated by yet another yawn._

* * *

As Harold took his seat at the Bass table, the entire hall burst out laughing at him.

"Okay, what?" Harold asked at last.

"Someone messed with your face, dude." Geoff said.

Harold picked up a spoon and admired the black scribble moustache that had been drawn on his upper lip. "Hey, sweet 'stache."

"Hey everyone! It's Sam!" Chris announced as the gamer walked in, still playing his video game console and not looking any more tired than he had before.

The Bears applauded as Sam walked to the table and took a seat beside Sierra, who was staring longingly at the Gopher's table.

"Let's go over the rules one more time." Heather said with a yawn. "Number one: I am the captain of this alliance so I get to make the rules. Number two?"

Lindsay and Beth thought for a moment before Lindsay answered. "Breaking the rules can result in getting kicked out of the alliance?"

"Good." Heather said with a nod. "Number three: I can borrow any of your stuff without asking, but my stuff is strictly off limits."

"I don't know about that last rule." Lindsay said.

"That's okay, I can change it." Heather said. "I can also find someone else to take to the final three with me." When both Lindsay and Beth shook their heads in horror, Heather seemed satisfied. "Good."

"Okay campers, your next challenge begins in ten minutes!" Chris said. "And be prepared to get wet!"

* * *

"Didn't we already do a challenge like this?" Courtney asked in irritation, looking up the thousand foot cliff from the base of the hill.

"You mean the one you chickened out on?" Eva growled.

"Welcome to challenge number three, campers!" Chris said. "Today's challenge is what I like to call the 'Canal of Doom'. Part one of this challenge involves a footrace to the top of the hill. The first team to the top will receive a bonus that will give them an advantage in part two of today's challenge!"

"Do we have to jump off the cliff again?" Courtney asked in apprehension.

"What do you mean _again_? You didn't do it the first time!" Eva growled.

"You'll see." Chris said.

"Anyone who doesn't jump this time will get THROWN off, understand?!" Eva snarled at her team, who nodded in unison as they cowered in fear.

"Ready? Set! Go!" Chris said as quickly as he could.

The Bears were the least prepared for a sudden start and took a few seconds to realize that the race had begun.

* * *

"That was the most painful thing I have ever done in my life!" Sadie gasped, collapsing at the top of the hill.

"You did good, Butterball." Eva said. She'd spent the entire race running beside Sadie, shouting at her to move faster. Eva hadn't given the girl a choice other than to sprint up the hill.

"Congratulations Bass! You're first!" Chris said, handing them a rolled up tube of plastic and a block of butter. "Here's your bonus in the next challenge!"

"You've got to be kidding me. Butter?" Heather asked in disbelief.

"And a crazy carpet!" Chris said. Then he turned to motion at the three tubes at the edge of the cliff; one green, one orange and one purple – the three teams' colours. "One at a time, you will ride your team's water slide down to the lake. You'll then swim out to retrieve a covered number tile. You'll then race back to the top to tag your next swimmer. Once you've received your six tiles, the remaining teammates will use them to decode the lock on this chest that contains an axe to cut this rope, which will raise your team's flag. Bears, you're up two people so choose two to sit out."

"I'll sit out." Sierra volunteered, glancing over at the Gopher's team as though she was hoping for a chance to mingle with the other team.

"I think Sam should sit out too." Courtney said.

"Sam and Cameron are sitting this one out." Eva snarled. "B is decoding. Sierra, you're swimming."

* * *

**Confessional**

"_Ever since B fired me across the sky with that stupid contraption of his – which I am still going to get him back for – Eva has been treating him like he's our team's secret weapon or something." Courtney said angrily. "It's like she likes him or something."_

Static_._

"_Now that I've had the chance to evaluate the players on my team, it's time to start putting my strategy into action." Scott said. "And what's my strategy you ask? Lose. Whittle down the team to something I can manage. Then the other teams will underestimate me and by the time we're ready for the merge, they'll think I'm the weakest player, an easy target. But I'll tear that false sense of security right out from under them – they won't even know what hit them."_

Static_._

"_Eva's been really nice to me since I helped her find her missing mp3 player." Sadie said. "Or at least, she's been less mean to me. Except she yells at me a lot more during challenges."_

* * *

"Hey string bean, you're decoding." Jo said, nudging Noah roughly with her elbow.

"Oh yay, lucky me." Noah responded sarcastically, before walking to their team's decoding table.

"I'll use my mad skills to get our chest open!" Harold volunteered, rushing to the Bass's table as Leshawna unwrapped the butter and began to grease one side of the crazy carpet with it.

"Are you ready, campers?" Chris asked. Leshawna shoved the stick of butter into Heather's hand and rushed to the water slide, preparing the crazy carpet.

"You gonna chicken out of this one too, Princess?" Duncan asked, smirking at Courtney.

"Get set!" Chris said. Jo was up first for the Gophers.

"Not a chance." Eva answered for the brunette. "In fact, she's up first!"

"Go!" Chris said.

"What?!" Courtney asked in alarm as Eva shoved her towards the purple tube, which the girl tripped and fall face-first into. She screamed the entire way down.

* * *

Jo was several minutes ahead of the other two girls and tagged Justin immediately as she made her way to drop off the tile at Noah's table. Leshawna and Courtney both managed to make it back to the top of the hill, where they handed their tiles to their team's decoder before tagging Ezekiel and Scott respectively. Then, both Leshawna and Courtney collapsed.

"SHARK!" Scott's voice screamed up from the lake. Several of the teens rushed to the edge of the cliff where they saw Scott be pulled under the water, then moments later re-surface, swimming as quickly as possible.

"Looks like Scott's found the juvenile Megalodons that we imported just for this occasion!" Chris said with a laugh.

"Megalodons?!" Cameron asked in alarm. "But they're supposed to be extinct!"

Bridgette raised an eyebrow. "What's a Megalodon?"

"A giant prehistoric shark!" Harold answered. "Gosh!"

"Like a Great White?" Bridgette asked. "Once, I saw one of them swallow a surfer whole."

"No, bigger! Megalodons make Great White sharks look like goldfish!" Harold said.

"How big is big?" Mike asked uneasily.

"Try fifty feet long!" Cameron said before passing out from the shock.

"A fifty foot long shark?!" the entire group of remaining contestants repeated in response.

"Aww man am I glad that I went before they arrived!" Leshawna said, wiping a bead of sweat from her brow.

* * *

**Confessional**

"_Owww." Scott moaned, rubbing his sore butt. Then, pulling out a massive shark tooth that was wedged in his behind, he studied it. "What the - a shark tooth?"_

Static_._

"_What is everyone's problem?" Courtney growled. "It's like everyone on my team is _trying_ to get me hurt!"_

* * *

Justin arrived back first, dropped off his tile and tagged Ann Maria. Ezekiel arrived minutes later to tag Heather, and eventually Scott made it back and tagged Sadie.

The gap between the Gophers and the two other teams began to widen as Ann Maria punched the Megalodon when it came after her. Trent managed to avoid the shark when Ann Maria tagged him. He tagged Zoey.

Despite the crazy carpet and the stick of butter, the Bass were still falling way behind the Gophers. Tyler, despite his bragging about how awesome of a swimmer he was, he still fell behind Lightning and Trent, and Gwen wasn't able to do much better when she was up against Zoey and Eva. The Bears were desperately trying to close the massive gap that Scott had created. With Lightning and Eva on their team, they were at least able to gain a few seconds back.

Zoey put her all into it, but on her way back to shore with her tile, was met by the massive sharks. It scooped her up in it's mouth, intent on swallowing her for lunch.

"ZOEY!" called her team from above.

"Let me go!" Zoey said. "Please!"

When the shark went to swallow her, Zoey grew increasingly desperate.

"I SAID 'LET ME GO'!" Zoey said, punching the top of the shark's mouth with all her might. In shock, it opened its mouth and Zoey escaped, jumping from inside the shark's mouth and back into the lake. When the shark went to try and take another bite out of her, Zoey kicked it in the face, and it stopped in its tracks. "Sorry! But I did ask you nicely!"

Gwen dropped into the water and swam for dear life while Zoey unintentionally distracted the sharks for her.

When Eva splashed into the water, she found herself immediately involved in a wrestling match with one of the sharks, the other sharks stopping seeking other prey to watch the intensifying battle. Eva was clinging to the shark's back, punching and kicking it with all her might, punishing it for trying to eat her. Meanwhile, she shark bucked and tossed in the water, trying to get the girl off its' back.

While Eva fought the shark, Zoey was able to extend the Gopher's lead by a few seconds. Managing to make it to the top of the hill, Zoey tagged Cody.

"Zoey, are you okay?!" Trent asked.

"Yeah, fine." The redhead said with a nod.

"Brick, you're up next." Courtney said.

"Why me?!" Brick asked in alarm. When Courtney responded with a glare, Brick raised his hand in a shaky salute and spoke with an even shakier tone. "Yes, ma'am!"

Eva beat Gwen to the top of the hill, starting to close the gap between the teams. Brick took a deep breath as he prepared to walk to the water slide. Cody hit the water and almost immediately began to scream in terror as the sharks surrounded him and prepared to eat him.

"Cody!" Sierra screamed, shoving Brick aside and stealing his tag from Eva, diving into the water slide before anyone could stop her.

"Oh great." Eva snarled, while both the Gophers and the Bears rushed to the edge of the cliff to watch Sierra take on the giant sharks. She was ruthless in punching and kicking the sharks until they spat out Cody. Then, she carried a shocked and shaking Cody to the shore and carried him up the cliff.

"Hurry Sierra!" Eva screamed at the violet-haired girl. "We're falling behind!"

When the duo reached the top of the hill, Cody accidentally tagged Owen, who dove headfirst into the water slide but didn't move. He wiggled around for a few moments.

"What are you waiting on, Owen?!" Jo screamed. "Get a move on!"

"Guys! I'm stuck!" Owen said. "A little help please?"

Jo frowned and shoved her teammate's butt, only to have him fart in her face.

"Gah!" Jo choked, collapsing on the ground, curled up in a fetal position as she hacked up a lung.

As Gwen arrived and tagged Duncan, the Bass took the lead, Eva shoved an apprehensive Brick over to Sierra to get tagged.

"Gwen, are you alright?" Trent asked, looking concerned.

"Yeah. Zoey and Eva distracted all the sharks for me." the goth girl responded.

Alejandro frowned and sauntered over to the Bass's team, stealing the remainder of the butter, which he quickly used to grease Owen's expansive waistline.

Owen still wasn't moving very much, and so Alejandro gave him a hard shove with his foot, but the overweight boy only farted in Alejandro's face as well. Alejandro collapsed on the ground, coughing like Jo. However, the gas was just enough to get Owen moving, and he began to slide down the water slide towards the water, increasing in speed every second.

* * *

**Confessional**

"_Have I ever mentioned that when I get nervous, I get really gassy?" Owen asked, laughing nervously before proving his point with a loud fart._

Static.

_Heather entered the confessional, and her face turned green. She brought her hand to her face to hold her nose. "Let me guess: Owen was just in here."_

* * *

Owen's flatulence cleared the sharks from the area the moment he hit the water. Owen did his best to swim out to the last tile, while Eva grabbed Brick's arm, had Sierra tag him and threw him forcefully into the water slide. Duncan was ahead of them both, but Owen had the luck of his flatulence propelling him through the water.

* * *

Harold quickly unwrapped the tiles and began trying to figure out the combination for the lock, while Duncan used his pocket knife to start cutting threads to weaken the rope that they needed to cut to raise their team's flag.

"Lindsay, can I talk to you for a moment?" Heather asked, glaring at the blonde girl who had been busy flirting with Tyler.

"Okay!" Lindsay responded obediently.

"What are the rules of the alliance, Lindsay?" Heather asked.

"I can't _date_ Tyler." the busty blonde responded solemnly.

"Good." Heather said. "Care to explain why you're still flirting with him?"

"I-" Lindsay began, looking upset. "I can't _date_ him or _like_ him?"

Heather thought for a moment. "Actually, Lindsay, I think you may be right. You can date Tyler-"

Lindsay gasped. "Really?"

"Really." Heather said. "But there's one teensy little condition."

"Okay, sure, anything!"

"You have to get him to vote with the alliance. He can't be in it, since my plan is only for the final three, not four, but if you want to date him, he has to vote with us."

"Okay, sure!" Lindsay said, nodding enthusiastically.

"Uh. . . thanks for saving me from those sharks, uh – it's Sienna isn't it?" Cody said.

"Sierra." the violet haired girl corrected.

"Oh, well thank you Sierra." Cody said.

"No problem, any time!" Sierra said.

"Well, I don't think I'll be swimming with the sharks again anytime soon, but thanks anyway."

"I think I love you." the girl blurted out.

"Oooooh-kay." Cody said, his eyes wide as he processed what the girl had said. "I think it's time for me to go now. I'm going to go and stand somewhere . . . that isn't near you."

"Okay! I'll see you later, Codykins!" Sierra said, waving to him.

He shuddered and muttered to himself as he walked away. "I hope not."

* * *

**Confessional**

"_I think I'd like a restraining order. Preferably _now_. Sierra was nice and all to rescue me from those sharks, but then she hit a ten on the psycho scale." Cody said, shuddering. "I really hope she doesn't make it to the merge."_

* * *

"Bass have their flag up!" Chris announced.

"But how? They haven't even opened their chest yet!" Courtney protested. Duncan was looking smug and held his knife up for Courtney to see. The brunette frowned. "That's not fair, they cheated! They didn't even use the axe!"

"I said that the chests held an axe you _could_ use, not you _had to_ use." Chris said.

As Brick returned with the final tile for the Bears' team, B pulled out a knife from his trench coat to cut the rope with, but he was too late.

"Gophers get second!" Chris announced. Noah had cracked the code and used the axe to cut the rope in the time it had taken Courtney to complain about the Bass's methods. "Bears, I will see you tonight at your first campfire ceremony!"

* * *

"So. . ." Sadie said to her fellow campers as they sat at the Bears table in the mess hall. "What do we do now?"

"We have to figure out who we're gonna vote off." Courtney said, taking charge of the team.

"Lightning thinks you all should be voted off after your terrible performances in today's game!" the athletic boy stated.

"I think we should vote out B." Courtney said.

"What? Why?!" Eva growled.

"Why do you care so much?" Courtney asked. "Besides, if it he hadn't been so slow in getting that combination figured out-"

"It wasn't B's fault at all!" Eva snarled. "It was Brick's! If he hadn't been so slow in getting that last tile to B, we would have won!"

"You guys seem to be forgetting that everyone left me for _shark bait_!" Brick said.

"Oh boohoo." Scott said, holding up the Megalodon tooth that he had dislodged from his butt cheek earlier that day. "You're not the only one who almost became a bite-sized snack."

"What about you!" Courtney said, pointing her finger at Scott. "You took your sweet time getting back up the hill!"

"Yeah! You destroyed any chance we had of getting the lead!" Eva growled.

"What about Sam or Cameron. They didn't even help." Scott countered.

"We weren't supposed to! You guys chose us to sit the challenge out!" Cameron argued, before his eyes got wide and he shrank back, almost as though he was afraid of his own outburst.

"Fine, what about Izzy, Mike and Bridgette?" Scott said. "They weren't chosen to sit out, and they didn't help either."

"I was ready to jump in next!" Bridgette said. "I'd have gone in Brick's place if Sierra hadn't jumped ahead!"

"We lost because Sierra had to butt ahead in the line!" Scott said.

"Hey! If I hadn't rescued Cody, he would have been shark bait for sure!"

"So basically, you all suck!" Eva snarled.

"Hey!" Courtney and Lightning protested in unison.

"What about you, temper tantrum?" Scott said, turning to Eva.

"What?!" Eva growled, enraged.

"Well, you can't control your temper." Scott said nonchalantly, while half of his team disappeared under the table to hide in fear.

Their fear was justified when Eva threw a punch at Scott so hard that she knocked him out of his seat and into the wall, four feet behind him.

"OW!" Scott complained, bringing his hand up to his quickly bruising eye. "See? That's exactly what I'm talking about!"

"Guys, this method isn't working!" Mike said, before gasping. "Aww, darnit! Just make a danged decision already!"

"That's what we're _trying_ to do, Mike!" Courtney said, rolling her eyes.

"Mike?!" he said. "The name's Chester, Missy!"

"Excuse me?!" Courtney asked, not impressed. "Are you making fun of me?"

"Back in my day, we didn't need fancy reality t-v shows to get rich, we did just fine getting a regular job!" Mike said.

"This isn't funny!" Courtney said, glaring. "So just knock it off!"

* * *

**Confessional**

"_Oh, so now they're making fun of me?!" Courtney said. "I've just about had it with this team! B tried to kill me, Sierra is a nutcase and now Mike's making fun of me. Well, mark my words: they're all going down!"_

Static.

"_Okay, so either Mike is a really great actor, or there's something up. That old man skit? Yeah, I think Mike could have chosen a more appropriate time for a comedy routine – unless it's not a comedy routine." Bridgette told the camera. "Things have been super awkward between us since the Awake-a-thon. And by awkward, I mean if we even make eye contact, one of us leaves the room. We don't even like each other that way, which is why it's so awkward. But I'm pretty sure that Mike wouldn't do something to offend Courtney on purpose – right? I mean, he saw how angry it was making her, and I'm pretty sure he wouldn't do that on purpose."_

* * *

"B, I need to talk to you." Eva said, catching the boy as he made his way to the Bears' cabin.

The silent genius looked around and shrugged before following Eva a little ways away from the cabins, where they found Sadie waiting at the edge of the forest.

"I think we should form an alliance." Eva said.

"Oooh, good idea!" Sadie said in agreement.

B didn't look convinced. "We've already seen how divided our team is – that much was clear in the mess hall. I think that we need to decide who to vote out because if we let our team do it, we're going to lose good players because people are only going to vote together by chance."

B shrugged, then nodded his agreement.

"You agree? So you're in?" Eva asked.

B nodded again.

"Alright, I think we should vote out Brick tonight." Eva said.

"Yeah, he totally let the team down today." Sadie said in agreement.

B seemed to consider this for a little while, then held out his hands as if asking 'why?', before beginning to mime.

"I. . . don't understand." Eva said.

"Oooooh, I love charades!" Sadie said. "Katie and I play all the time!"

"What's he trying to say?" Eva asked as B took off his hat and began to touch the top of his head.

"Ok. . . hat? Head? Hair?" B gave Sadie the thumbs up, then made a sweeping motion. "Long hair?" B signed her another thumbs up. "Izzy? No, Bridgette? Sierra?" B stopped and gave her a thumbs up sign.

"Oooh, B is right." Sadie said. "Sierra did mess things up for us today!"

* * *

"Mike, we need to talk." Bridgette said.

"About. . . the Awake-a-thon?" Mike guessed.

"No, about dinner today." The blonde said, taking a seat beside him on the steps. "What was up with the whole Chester routine?"

"Chester?" Mike repeated, his face filled with dread.

"Yeah, Chester."

"Well, uh. . . I, uh – I'm an actor!" Mike said. "That was just one of the characters I've been working on."

"Couldn't you have chosen a better time to show everyone?" Bridgette said. "I mean, you're a great actor – you got really into character, it's just I think you could have timed the whole performance better. Courtney was getting _really_ upset over the whole thing."

"Really?" Mike asked.

"Are you sure you're acting, and there's not something else going on?"

"I-" Mike began, then he looked down at his feet. "Promise you won't judge me."

"I promise."

"Okay, so I have this quirk-"

Bridgette raised an eyebrow. "Define 'quirk'."

Mike leaned over and whispered in the girl's ear. "I have multiple personality disorder."

Bridgette's eyes went wide for a moment. "I think you should tell Courtney."

"I would rather not." Mike said. "It's really not something I'm proud of, I don't really want to go around telling people."

"She thought you were making fun of her tonight at dinner. I think she's probably going to try and vote you off."

"I-" Mike began, then he shook his head. "No, I can't do it yet, Bridgette. I'm not ready for everyone to know."

"Not everyone, just Courtney."

"No, I don't think I'm up to that just yet."

"Okay, it's your choice."

"Promise me you won't tell anyone."

"You have my word."

* * *

"Welcome, Bears, to your first elimination ceremony!" Chris said. "The two other teams know the procedure already – if you get a marshmallow, you're still in the game. One camper won't get a marshmallow tonight. That camper will be the one that you have voted for, the one you have chosen to go home. Once the marshmallows have been given out, the eliminated camper will walk the dock of shame and take the boat of losers and leave the island. That means you're out of the contest. And you can't come back. Ever."

"Bridgette. Sadie. Izzy. Scott."

The four named campers stood up to receive their marshmallows.

"Lightning, Cameron, Sam, Eva."

The next four campers stood up to claim their marshmallows.

"Courtney, Mike, B."

Courtney glared as B received his marshmallow.

"Sierra, Brick, you are the bottom two tonight. The final marshmallow of the night will be going to. . ."

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

"Brick."

"What?!" Sierra asked in shock. "I have to say good-bye to Cody!"

"No you don't." Chris said, but when Sierra tried to bolt towards the Gophers' cabin to say goodbye, she was stopped by Chef, who captured her and dragged her down the dock of shame.

"Bye Sierra!" Cody called, coming out of hiding as the boat began to drive away.

"You came to say goodbye to me?!" Sierra asked in excitement.

"Yeah, something like that." Cody said. "Have a nice trip!"

"Bye Codykins!" Sierra called. "I'll miss you!"

As the boat took Sierra out of sight, Cody turned to Scott. "Thank you so much for voting her out for me."

"Oh, it was no problem, _pal_." Scott said.

* * *

**I don't think that this is one of my better chapters, but I'd still like to know what you guys think of it, so please review!**

**Also, I have several other Total Drama stories that I'm working on that I'd love for you guys to check out. The ones I am working on besides this one are: an AU season 3, a parody-ish season 5, one where Disney characters compete for the million and one crossover with 6teen. **

**A Total Drama Roleplay needs campers! **Find it by adding a period between fanfiction and net and going to the following url: fanfictionnet/forum/A-Total-Drama-Roleplay/97922/


	5. Dodgebrawl

**Sorry it's taken so long to update. I had the chapter almost finished then re-read what I had and hated it. So, I deleted most of it and rewrote most of the chapter. Unfortunately, I've had several papers to write and exams just started, so I was scrambling for time to write. And then I watched thirty six episodes of Class of the Titans in three days and ended up not doing much writing. Fortunately, now I'm finished and I am quite pleased with how this version turned out.**

**I'm trying to salvage canon scenes from the first and fourth seasons, as well as trying to stray away from just transcribing the episodes to you with minor edits. That's one of the reasons why I mixed up the teams, so that it wouldn't be easy for me to just slightly alter the episodes.**

**Anyway, I seem to have a problem – I keep writing Chris and Chris instead of Chris and Chef. So if I missed a correction anywhere, Chris isn't chilling with himself, he's supposed to be with Chef.**

**I don't own Total Drama.**

* * *

"Last time on Total Drama Island, the teams battled it out on a water slide and with some prehistoric sharks that we imported specially for this challenge!" Chris said from the rebuilt Wawanakwa dock. "The Bass won an advantage in the first part of the challenge, but the Gophers quickly took the lead. The Bears fell behind in the first part and struggled to make it up. The Gophers lost their lead when Cody almost got eaten by a giant, prehistoric shark, and Sierra set the Bears back when she dove in to rescue him! Owen managed to regain the Gopher's lead when he became a fart-powered rocket but in the end, the Bass claimed victory and the Bears sent Sierra home! What challenges await these teens today on Total Drama Island?"

_**Cue theme song.**_

The sky was an inky blue, with the silver moon hovering over the horizon. The sky dappled with stars, speckling the dark sky with tiny lights. The night was beautiful. The birds were peaceful in their nests and the bears were peaceful in their dens. Even the Sasquatches were peaceful in their cave. The night was peaceful.

Except in the Killer Bass cabin.

Harold's snores, obnoxiously loud, were keeping up all of his teammates, both on the male side and female sides of the Killer Bass cabins. And for some of them - five nights with no sleep was just unacceptable, and as for the others, well they were just growing increasingly irritable.

"That's it." Gwen said, swinging her legs out the bed and getting up.

"Where are you going?" Heather asked, too tired to be rude to the goth girl.

"To deal with Harold." Gwen said, also too tired for insults, as she slipped out of the girl's side of the Killer Bass cabin.

Slipping into the boy's side of the cabin, Gwen quickly found the bed of the camper she wanted, and walked over to him. The shadow that she cast in the moonlight from the window was enough to catch his attention.

"What?" he demanded, turning to glare at her.

"I need your help."

"I'm trying to sleep."

"So are the rest of us, dude." Geoff said from a nearby bunk.

"I know. And once you help me, you will be able to sleep."

"Alright, fine." he said, throwing his covers off and swinging his legs out of the bed. "What do you want, pasty?"

"I like to call this one a 'rude awakening'." she said, motioning him over to Harold's bed. Carefully they picked up the snoring nerd. Geoff held the door open as Duncan and Gwen carried the nerdy boy down to the dock, where they dropped him into the water.

As Harold awoke, spluttering and thrashing around in the water, Gwen and Duncan took off running for the cabin. Her in her black tank top and pyjama shorts, and him wearing nothing but a pair of black pyjama pants, they hurried up the steps of the Killer Bass Cabin.

"Wedge a chair under the door handle so he can't get in." Duncan instructed.

"Okay, sleep well." Gwen replied as she disappeared into the girl's side of the cabin.

Before crawling back into bed, she did as he'd suggested and wedged a chair up under the door handle so that it wouldn't open.

* * *

A thunderous crash and a screech of profanities woke up not only the peacefully sleeping Killer Bass but the Thrashing Bears and the Screaming Gophers as well.

On her way to the communal washrooms for an early morning shower, Heather had tripped and fallen over a sleeping Harold, who had fallen asleep on the steps of the Killer Bass cabin after he'd discovered that the cabins doors had been locked.

"Harold, fancy seeing you here." Duncan said, exchanging a smirk with Gwen, which Courtney observed with a dark look. Both Duncan and Gwen looked significantly more well rested than they had before, but neither was yet back to normal.

Gwen yawned, before she too began to smirk. "How'd you end up out here?"

"Heather, I didn't know you were into scrawny dorks." Duncan said as the Asian beauty tried to untangle herself from Harold and reclaim her dignity by storming off towards the showers.

"Harold, I'm going to kill you!" Heather snarled.

"It's not my fault! He locked me out of the cabin!"

"Well why didn't you go elsewhere to sleep instead of on the steps?!"

"I didn't have my glasses on, GOSH!" Harold said. "It took me like three hours to find my way back to the cabin at all!"

At this, Duncan burst out laughing.

* * *

**Confessional**

"_Pasty made last night great and this morning even better. Dumping Harold in the lake was fun, but this morning just put the cherry on top!" Duncan told the confessional camera, laughing hysterically._

Static.

"_Okay, so I feel so bad for asking Scott to get his team to vote out Sierra, but when she told me that she loved me, it really freaked me out and I panicked." Cody said, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "And also, her being here would have completely ruined my chances with Gwen."_

Static.

"_So far, I have documented three separate personalities within Mike. He's like a walking, talking psychology textbook!" Cameron told the camera as he adjusted his glasses. "And it's a total page-turner!"_

* * *

"Okay campers, listen up!" Chris said, clapping his hands to get the attention of the teens in the mess hall. "Your next challenge begins in ten minutes! And be prepared to bring it!"

"Oh yay, more life threatening 'games'." Noah said sarcastically from behind his book.

"What?! But Lightning hasn't had his DPA!" the boy protested, and when his teammates gave him strange looks, he clarified. "Daily Protein Allotment, duh!"

"Why do you always refer to yourself in the third person?" Courtney asked.

"Third person?! Lightning is the first person! Lightning is always first!"

"Actually, third person means -" Courtney stopped and sighed, shaking her head. "Never mind, forget I asked."

"I haven't had enough beauty sleep!" Dakota whined.

"Come on, you look -" Sam said as Dakota took off her sunglasses to reveal the dark bags under her very bloodshot eyes. "GREAT SUNS OF ORION!"

"You can catch up on your sleep after the challenge!" Chris said. "Right this way!"

Dakota put her cell phone to her ear. "Hey, it's me. We're starting the next challenge in ten-" Before she could finish her conversation, Chris used a magnet on a fishing line to take away her cell phone, shortly followed by Sam's hand held gaming console.

"Hey!" Sam and Dakota protested in unison.

"Contraband!" Chris taunted. "Now it's mine; confiscator's keepers!"

* * *

As the teens made their way towards the location of that day's challenge, Sam walked beside Dakota.

"Hey Dakota, sorry about before. I was just so taken by your beautiful nostrils." Sam said. His eyes went wide while Dakota winced.

* * *

**Confessional**

"_Nostrils?" Sam said. "Nostrils?!"_

* * *

"Thanks." Dakota replied. "I like your. . . uh. . . can I get back to you on that?"

She walked away while Sam slumped over in disappointment.

* * *

The dodgeball court was in a large, clear box that looked like a gym with glass walls, and had bleachers running along the full length of the far wall. Duncan was one of the last people to arrive, and he passed out of the nearest set of bleachers shortly after threatening his teammates. "Wake me up and it'll be the last thing you ever do."

"I'm with him." Gwen said, sitting down on the opposite side of the bleachers and falling asleep.

"This is all your fault, you know!" Heather snarled, pointing at Harold. "You and your obnoxious snoring!"

"It's called a medical condition, GOSH!" Harold responded.

"Well maybe you should go home and get some medical help!" Heather responded, before she yawned.

Chef silenced them by loudly blowing his whistle. He said nothing as he walked across the court, giving dirty looks at the contestants.

"Today's challenge is the classic game of dodgeball!-" Chris began before Leshawna cut him off.

"What's the catch?" the loud and proud sister asked, her hands on her hips.

"What catch?" Chris asked.

"Yeah - are we playing with bowling balls?" Courtney piped up.

"Or rocks?" Trent asked.

"Or cannon balls?" Geoff asked.

"Or bombs?" Harold suggested.

"Or a rabid armadillo?" Beth asked. When her fellow campers gave her funny looks, she shrugged. "Don't tell me that you guy'th have never theen Path to D'orville."

"All excellent suggestions, but this is just a plain old dodgeball game." Chris said with a frown. "The studio had some complaints with the last challenge and told us we have to 'tone it down', so you guys get a boring old game of classic dodgeball!"

"You sure there's not some catch?" Heather asked suspiciously.

"Yeah, like the balls being filled with boiling water." Zoey suggested.

"Or sulphuric acid." Noah said.

"Or spikes of some sort." Scott said as he whittled at a piece of wood with his shark tooth. "That come out when we catch the ball."

"Nope, just plain old regular air-filled rubber dodgeballs." Chris said, rolling his eyes before muttering. "Unfortunately."

"Something safe? Sounds too good to be true!" Leshawna said while the rest of the cast cheered and exchanged high fives.

"Anyway, like I was saying before: the first rule of dodgeball is-" Chris said.

"Do not talk about dodgeball?" Noah said, causing Owen to laugh.

"As I was saying: if you get hit with the ball, you're out." Chris said, throwing the ball and hitting Courtney in the stomach, but she managed to catch the ball and hold on to it.

"Ow! You can't just do that!" Courtney said, whipping the ball back at Chris.

Chris caught the ball. "If you catch the ball, the thrower gets sent out and the catcher gets to bring out another team member out on the court."

"Throwing balls, gee another mentally challenging test." Noah said.

"I know, right?" Lindsay said, not catching onto Noah's sarcastic tone.

"Okay. Now, Geoff, try to hit me!" Chris said as he tossed a ball to the blonde party boy. "If you're holding a ball, you can use it to deflect a ball, but if it knocks the ball out of your hands, you're out."

"So what do I do again when the ball comes at me?" Lindsay asked as Geoff threw the ball at Chris.

"You dodge!" Chris said, deflecting the ball and hitting Lindsay in the face with it, knocking her flat on her back. "Ooooh, you were _supposed_ to dodge!"

"Oowwww, right." Lindsay said, standing up and taking her hand off of her forehead, where a goose-egg had already formed where the ball had hit her.

"One minute until game time. Bears, you will have to sit one person out each round. Each game will be five-on-five at the start, and each team will play six games each, three against each of the other teams." Chris said. "First round will be Gophers versus Bass!"

* * *

"Ann Maria, Trent, Justin, Alejandro and I will be out first." Jo said.

"I have to sit out? What a shame. But I guess I can take one for the team, if you insist." Noah said, sounding not at all disappointed about having to sit out.

"What about me?" Owen asked. "I'm actually really good at this game."

"Yeah, don't you think it might be beneficial to us to mix up the teams instead of just throwing out everyone who _looks_ like they might be good at the game in the first round?" Cody said.

"Munchkin, you could be right." Jo said. "But, that doesn't matter. If you and Owen are good at dodgeball, then you guys will be our secret weapons. Don't worry, I have a plan."

* * *

**Confessional**

"Munchkin_? Seriously?! I'm not _that_ short!" Cody said, his arms crossed to display his obvious irritation with Jo's choice for a nickname._

* * *

"Bring it on, fishies! Otherwise kicking your butts again just won't be as satisfying!" Jo sneered, egging the other team on.

"Oh! You're going down!" Tyler said, his brown eyes wide with anger. "We're gonna bring the dinner to the table, and then we're gonna eat it!"

"Oooh, you tell 'em, white boy." Leshawna said, trying not to laugh at Tyler's pathetic attempt to trash talk the other team, while Geoff and Gwen just facepalmed.

"Come on, fluffy rats, you really think we're concerned? How humiliating is it going to be for you guys when you lose to us twice in a row?" Heather taunted the Gophers.

Owen jumped up from the bench, infuriated. "WE ARE NOT FLUFFY RATS! WE ARE GOPHERS!"

"Both teams ready?" Chris said. "Best of six games wins! Now, let's dodge some balls!"

Chef blew his whistle to signal the start of the game.

Alejandro, Jo and Ann Maria held the balls on the Gopher's side, while Heather, Leshawna and Tyler had the balls for the Bass's side.

Ann Maria threw her ball and Tyler barely managed to dodge in time. Frowning, he went to hit her out instead, but instead of simply aiming and throwing, he began to spin around and around with the ball and then unleashed its inertia power. However, instead of hitting any of the Gophers out, he slammed Lindsay in the face, knocking her off the bleachers.

"You wanna try hitting someone on the other team instead?" Heather asked, raising an eyebrow at her teammate, but before he could pick up the ball to try again, Jo slammed him out with the ball she'd been holding with such force that he hit the back wall.

"Time to unleash my mad skills." Harold said.

"You show 'em what you've got, string bean!" Leshawna encouraged her teammate.

"Bring it, King o' the Dorks." Jo said, stepping forward.

Harold did some kind of ninja poses, then threw the ball, but it only made it two feet in front of him before it hit the ground and rolled over the centre line to Jo's feet. Jo picked it up and slammed Harold out while he screamed like a little girl.

Alejandro hit Gwen out before Heather hit him out, and Leshawna got both Trent and Ann Maria. Then Heather hit Justin out as well, leaving Jo against Leshawna and Heather.

All the balls on her side of the court now, Jo picked them up one by one and slammed the other team into submission, singlehandedly. She threw one ball at Leshawna, which the girl was able to dodge, but while she wad distracted dodging the first ball, the second one hit her in the stomach. Heather went out the same way.

* * *

"We can do this, we just have to believe in ourselves!" Harold said.

"Oh, I believe." Heather said. "I believe you suck!"

"Yeah, you throw like a girl!" Tyler said.

"What's the supposed to mean, trash talker?" Leshawna asked, raising an eye brow at Tyler, who flinched. Ezekiel, who had been laughing at Tyler's comment, fell silent immediately.

"You should talk!" Heather said, crossing her arms as she looked at Tyler.

"That was just a warm up shot!" Tyler said. "Look, I can dominate this game! Just give all the balls to me!"

Chef blew the whistle again to signify that another game was about to start.

"Fine, but try to aim for the other side, okay?" Heather said. "Alright, who's playing next?"

"Bears, pick your players!" Chris said. "Bass, I want the same players back in!"

"You've got to be kidding me." Heather said, rubbing her forehead. "Harold, just stay in the back and try to sty out of the other players' ways."

* * *

"He didn't let the Bass change their team." Courtney commented to her team as they discussed who they were going to send out. "We should send in only our best players in case it's going to be the same teams for all the rounds."

"In that case, we're sending in our strongest players: Lightning, Brick and myself." Eva said. "And I guess Izzy and B as well."

"Hey! What about me?" Courtney called as half of her team walked onto the court. "You didn't even ask who was any good at dodgeball!"

Chef blew the whistle and the game began.

Tyler had all four balls and began his spinning routine again, whirling 'round and 'round, faster and faster until he finally began to fire the balls. The first hit Chef in the gut. The second barely missed Chris.

"Hey! Watch the face, dude!" Chris screamed.

The next one cleared the Screaming Gophers off of the bleachers.

"Hey! Take it easy!" Dakota called.

* * *

Zoey and Trent, who had been sitting next to one another and chatting when Tyler's murder ball came flying their way, both dove out of its path. Trent tripped and ended up in the bleacher's footrest, his body pressed close against Zoey's.

Both stared at one another in wide-eyed shock for a moment, before they realized what had happened, and their faces flushed red with embarrassment. In unison they both apologized. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!"

"No, it's my fault." Trent said. "I'm really sorry."

"It's not your fault – it was an accident." Zoey said.

"Still – when I tripped, I brought you down with me." Trent said.

"No, it's fine, really." Zoey said said, moving to sit up at the same time that Trent did, and they bumped heads.

"Ow!" the said in unison. "Sorry. No, it's fine, really."

"We need to get up." Zoey said, her cheeks flushing even brighter red as she came to terms with how close she and Trent were. "As soon as possible."

"Yeah." Trent said, also blushing deeper. "I agree."

"You first." Zoey said.

"Okay." Trent said, shifting to try and get up. "Uh. . . you're laying on my arm."

"Oh! Sorry!" said Zoey, even more embarrassed as she shifted to try and free Trent's arm.

His arm now free, Trent tried to get up again, but roughly bumped his shoulder on the lip of the bleacher seat. "Ow, my shoulder. This isn't going to work. I think we're stuck."

"No, we just have to figure this out." Zoey said. "Uh. . . this is going to be so awkward, but try rolling on top of me."

"What?!" Trent asked, his green eyes wide with alarm.

"Roll on top of me and you'll be able to get up." Zoey repeated. "It's probably going to be more awkward if we stay like this."

"Okay, I guess you're right." Trent said awkwardly.

* * *

**Confessional**

"_Thank you Tyler." Heather said, looking sly. "You've been such a great help to me."_

* * *

Gwen snorted awake suddenly from a between-game nap, her eyelids fluttering as she tried to remember where she was. Finding herself on the bleachers instead of in her bed, she sat up, yawning as she tried to stretch. Glancing at the game, it appeared that she'd missed the end of the first match because the Bears were on instead of the Gophers now.

Sitting up straight, she looked around, glancing over to the Gopher's team. At the awake-a-thon challenge, she'd met a really cute guy on the Screaming Gopher's team, and she was crushing on him, _big time_. And she was pretty sure that the conversation that they'd had at the awake-a-thon had involved flirting from both parties.

The Gophers were spread out on the bleachers, and she couldn't see the dark-haired musician anywhere. She rubbed her eyes and glanced the other side of her, but he wasn't there either. Looking back at the other side, she finally did spot him.

And he was on his hands and knees on one of the bleacher's footrests. Puzzled, she continued to watch him, wondering what he was doing. Until she saw him get up and then help up a redheaded girl from his team, and their faces were both very red.

Gasping, Gwen put her head in her hands as her eyes welled up with tears.

She's really liked that guy; she'd thought he was sweet and cute and actually a good guy. And she'd thought that he maybe kind of liked her back. She was just starting to think that maybe she would ask him to hang out, maybe even ask him to hang out later that day! She had even been starting to think that he was going to ask her out.

But apparently, he had a thing for that redheaded girl on his own team.

Tired and overwhelmed by disappointment, jealousy and what felt like the sting of rejection, Gwen stood up and left the dodgeball arena, seeking somewhere else to cry.

"Hey, where are you going?" Heather asked as she saw Gwen walking off the court. "You're supposed to be playing."

Gwen, glaring as she tried to hide her tears, bent down and picked up the nearest ball. She bumped it against her chest. "Oh look, I'm out."

"You can't just do that!" Heather hissed, but Gwen wasn't listening as she left the court room.

* * *

The last of the four murder balls that Tyler had thrown hit Izzy straight in the face.

Chef blew his whistle and pointed Izzy off the court. It wasn't much of a competition. Lightning got out Harold easily, and Leshawna hit Lightning while he was focusing on getting Harold out.

"WHAT?!" Lightning said Leshawna's ball hit him.

"You're out." Leshawna said as Chef blew his whistle.

"This is stupid!" Lightning said, storming off the court. "What kind of sport has more than one ball on the field at a time?!"

"You're kidding, right?" Eva asked in disbelief.

"Eva watch out!" Courtney called out from the bleachers seconds before Eva was hit by two balls at once.

"I WILL GET YOU FOR THIS!" Eva vowed as she stormed off the court.

Brick hit Tyler out before Heather hit him out, and then it was Leshawna and Heather versus B. But the big guy was surprisingly agile and was easily able to dodge the balls they threw at him, before hitting both of them out on the first try.

"Way to go, B!" the Bears, including Courtney, cheered.

"Alright, point to the Bears. Next will be Gophers versus Bears – same teams as before!" Chris announced.

Lightning, Brick, Izzy, B and a foul tempered Eva took to the court against Ann Maria, Trent, Justin, Alejandro and Jo. Eva was in a rage from having been hit out in the last round, so the moment the whistle blew, she was firing balls at the other side of the court with all her fury.

In a matter of minutes, she'd decimated the entire team, hitting out everyone but Ann Maria. The curvy girl with the pouf hair-do suddenly became the target of Eva's murder balls.

And then one of them hit Ann Maria's pouf.

"Oh no you didn't." Ann Maria said, patting her pouf to make sure it was still intact.

"She's out! We won!" Courtney began to cheer, but when Chef didn't blow his whistle, she glared up at them. "The ball hit her!"

"NOBODY hits my hair." Ann Maria said.

"Can we get a ref judgement?" Courtney asked, her hands on her hips as she looked expectantly at Chris and Chef.

"It hit her hair." Chris decided. "Doesn't count if it hits the hair."

"Oh, uh-uh, you knocked a hair outta place. Now you're going down." Ann Maria said, picking up the balls that were on the floor on her side of the court.

Ann Maria hit Eva in the gut and the face simultaneously, and Eva curled her hands into fists, grinding her teeth and seething as she looked at Ann Maria. Chef blew his whistle, but Eva stayed on the court until Chef had to get out of his ref's seat to physically remove the girl from the court.

One of the balls that had hit Eva bounced back and rolled to Ann Maria's feet. With Eva out, the other Bears were scrambling to grab balls to hit Ann Maria with. Lightning had one under his arm and was running to the centre line when Ann Maria struck him with a hardball to the gut, and he dropped the ball he'd been carrying and dropped to the ground before crawling off the court.

"You don't mess with the hair." Ann Maria said, throwing another ball and getting out Izzy, and then Brick. It took her a few angry shots to achieve it, but she eventually managed to hit out B at last, the loss only serving to double Eva's rage.

"Gophers win again! That makes the score Gophers two, Bears one and Bass none!" Chris announced. "Now for the fun part! Anyone who played in the first three games has to sit out for the rest of them!"

"WHAT?!" chorused the teens in a mixture of shock and outrage.

"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" Eva raged, pointing her finger at Courtney.

"My fault?" Courtney repeated.

"You heard me!" Eva said. "You suggested only sending in our best players!"

The score was:

Gophers: 2

Bass: 0

Bears: 1

* * *

Sam was sitting next to Dakota on the bleachers.

"This is the longest I've ever gone without playing a video game." Sam told her. "My hands feel so empty."

Dakota narrowed her eyes. "Chris is such a jerk. I could have sent like six hundred texts by now!"

"Wow, we have a lot in common."

"Why would you say something like that to me?!" Dakota asked, looking as though she was on the verge of tears.

"Oh, no! I meant about the tech withdrawal!" Sam said. "Trust me, you're nothing like me otherwise."

"Aww, thanks!" Dakota said, smiling at Sam.

Nearby, Scott was talking to Lightning. "Chris sure did a number on our team! He took away Sam's lucky gadget right before the big game!"

"Aww man, this stinks!" Lightning exclaimed.

* * *

**Confessional**

"_Chris should have let Lightning be a team of one! Lightning is used to carrying his team back home, but at least those guys can actually play the game! Not like this bunch of losers!"_

* * *

"Alright Gophers, you five are our only hope." Jo said, looking at Owen, Dakota, Cody, Dawn and Zoey, who were sitting on the front seat of the bleachers. "Seeing as Noah is too much of a wimp to play."

"You guys have been doing so well without me; I don't want to mess up your mojo." Noah said, before going back to his book.

"So let's go out there and win this!" Jo said as the team stood up to go out on the court. Owen put his hand in the centre of the group, and after a short moment, Zoey puts hers on top of his. Their hands together in the middle for a team cheer, Jo rolled her eyes before joining in and starting the chant. "One, two three, take no prisoners!"

"Go Gophers!" The gophers responded, having been under the assumption that that Jo's cheer would be "One, two, three, go Gophers!"

They ran out onto the court where they faced off against Bass members Geoff, Lindsay, Beth, DJ and Ezekiel.

"Wooo! Go Bass!" Heather cheered. "Easy win!"

"GREAT GATSBY, THAT IS IT!" Owen yelled at the top of his lungs. "GAME ON!"

Owen charged across the court and grabbed the first ball he saw, throwing it through the air and hitting both Lindsay and Beth with the first hit. Grabbing the next ball, he took out Ezekiel. DJ went out next before Owen let forth a battle cry and smoked Geoff in the face with a hardball. The entire Bass team was down before any of them had a chance to get up.

"That one's worth an instant replay." Chris said smugly. "That's gonna leave a mark."

Chef blew the whistle to signify the end of the game.

"I don't know what got into me!" Owen told his team.

"Nice chops, kid!" Jo said approvingly.

"There are chops?!" Owen asked with wide eyes.

"Congratulations Owen!" Alejandro said. "At least _someone_ is trying today."

Noah looked up from his book. "Oh sorry. Wooo! Way to throw those murder balls! Go team, go!"

"Nice team spirit." Jo said sarcastically. Then she turned to the other teams. "Hey! It's three-one and three-zero! How does it feel to suck so much?"

"Not very good." Harold admitted, looking down in shame.

"It's not over yet!" Courtney reminded her from the Bears team, before muttering to herself. "It's so over."

* * *

Heather had her hands on her hips. "Where is Gwen?!"

"I don't know, I saw her take off about twenty minutes ago. She looked real down, eh." Ezekiel said.

"Ugh, we can't spare anyone to go and find her." Heather said. "We don't have time before the next game."

"Wake up sleeping beauty over there." Leshawna said, jerking a thumb in Duncan's direction.

"What, are you crazy? I'm not doing it." Heather said.

Leshawna rolled her eyes before walking over to Duncan and smacking him on the face three times to wake him up.

"You'd better have a damn good reason for waking me up." Duncan said, enraged as he sat up.

"You wanna get outta my face, mister 'tude." Leshawna said. "I'm doing you a favour here - I'm trying to help you avoid getting voted out tonight."

"We're losing. The Gophers are up three, and even the Bears have won a game." Heather said. "We're in last place."

"And we need your help." Leshawna said.

"And why should I help you?" Duncan asked.

"Because if you don't, I can personally guarantee that you will be the one going home tonight." Heather said.

"For once, I agree with Heather." Leshawna said.

"Alright, fine, I'll play." Duncan said, rolling his eyes. "On one condition."

"And what's that?" Leshawna asked.

"You do what I say, when I say it." Duncan said. When his team nodded in consensus, Duncan continued. "Okay, here's a strategy I picked up on my first visit to juvie; it's called 'rush the new guy'."

* * *

Duncan, Geoff, Ezekiel, DJ and Beth were up against Courtney, Bridgette, Cameron, Sadie and Sam.

"Ready to lose again?" Courtney taunted the Bass, looking especially confident.

"It's not over until it's over, _darling_!" Duncan said.

"Sure you can stay awake long enough to actually play the game, _darling_?" Courtney asked.

"Will you two please stop flirting and just play already?!" Heather called from the sidelines.

"EW! I am _not_ flirting with _him_!" Courtney said, wrinkling her nose in disgust. "That's just nasty!"

Chef blew his whistle and the match started.

Courtney and Bridgette aimed at the other team, but the Bass easily dodged the balls thrown their way and then had all four balls on their side, which they all aimed at a single player, Sadie. One by one, the Bass took the Bears down.

"What was that were you saying about losing, Princess?" Duncan taunted as the Bears made their way off the court, prompting Courtney to whip the nearest dodgeball at his face. Duncan ducked, and Courtney ended up hitting Justin in the face.

"Ow! My beautiful face!" Justin exclaimed.

* * *

"We are seriously sucking here!" Courtney complained.

"The Bass have a strategy, we should figure out one as well!" Cameron suggested.

Courtney narrowed her eyes and smiled, her face the picture of sly determination. "That's a _great_ idea, Cam. Guys, huddle up; I have an idea."

For the next match, Courtney, Mike, Bridgette, Sadie and Cameron were up against Owen, Dakota, Zoey, Cody and Dawn.

When Chef blew the whistle and the game began, the Bears waited on the Gophers to start throwing balls their way. Owen hit Sadie out on the first shot, but then the Bears had all the balls on their side and hit out Owen – the Gopher's best player on the court. In moments, Zoey, Cody and Dawn were out as well.

"Hey! Take it easy!" Dakota whined as one dodgeball hit her in the stomach and a second hit her head, and she walked off of the court, rubbing the goose-egg that was quickly developing.

Chef blew his whistle; the Bears had won the round.

The score was:

Gophers: 3

Bass: 1

Bears: 2

Noah glanced up from his book, not looking very impressed. "Come on, a little effort out there, people!"

This statement earned him dirty looks from Jo, Zoey and Dawn.

"Why don't you help out?" Zoey said, frowning. Then she seemed to think she was being too bossy and her expression softened. "If it's not too much trouble, that is."

Jo rolled her eyes at how easily Zoey backed off before she herself turned her glare to Noah. "You need to get off your butt and contribute to this team, bookworm."

"Yeah, I would, but sports aren't really my forte." Noah said, rolling his eyes before resuming reading.

"Whatever." Cody said, rolling his eyes in annoyance. "Let's just do the same team again, because Noah clearly doesn't care about winning this challenge."

"We're up against the Bass again." Zoey said. "We are so gonna lose."

"Well clearly when you have an attitude like that!" Jo retorted before Zoey, Dakota, Owen, Dawn and Cody made their way back onto the court.

Duncan, Beth, Zeke, Lindsay and Geoff were up for the Bass team, and they dominated the Gophers just as they had dominated the Bears in their previous game. It was no contest – just _boom, boom, boom_ and out. It was the same story when the same five Bass players went up against Courtney, Bridgette, Mike, Sadie and Scott.

* * *

"Our strategy is failing!" Courtney said with a frown. "At least it does against the Bass."

"We're up against the Gophers now." Brick said.

"I know, but we can't let them have this win. If they win this one, we'll lose the challenge!" Courtney explained, distressed. "Our strategy isn't working."

"We need something new." Cameron said. "Perhaps carefully calculated-"

"No, we don't – I think we need something old." Courtney said. "I'm sure you've all heard the old saying 'if it isn't broken, don't fix it'?"

"That's 'if it _ain't broke_, don't fix it'." Scott corrected.

"Regardless – I have a plan that just might help us pull off a win." Courtney said, leaning in to divulge the details of her plan in hushed tones.

* * *

Courtney, Mike, Bridgette, Sadie and Sam made their way onto the court to face off against the same five Gophers players: Owen, Dawn, Cody, Zoey and Dakota.

"Just stick to the plan." Courtney reminded the Bears.

The game began, and the Gophers were playing hard, but they weren't able to stand up to the full fury of the Bears' new strategy. Abandoning their targeting just the strongest players first, they used the Bass's strategy of targeting one player at a time, eliminating the Gophers one by one.

Owen was the last Gopher on the court, and he got hold of two of the dodgeballs, and threw them full force at Mike. They almost hit Mike, but he gasped, before dodging gracefully.

"You'll have to do much better to hit Svetlana!" Mike called out in what sounded like a Russian accent. "Svetlana will win ze gold!"

"Ready, aim," Courtney called as she, Bridgette and Sadie all picked up dodgeballs and hit Owen out.

Chef blew his whistle and the match was over.

The score was:

Gophers: 3

Bass: 3

Bears: 3

"I wasn't expecting this." Chris said, touching his chin. "Seriously, people?! A three-way tie?!"

"Lightning still thinks this game is lame." Lightning said.

"Alright, we'll have to have a tie-breaker match. So three more rounds of dodgeball to decide on a winner!" Chris said, then he seemed to think of something. "And to make things interesting, each team gets to have someone who has had to sit out back in play!"

"Sweet! We want-" Courtney began before Chris cut her off.

"Ah ah ah! I get to choose who gets to play again!" Chris said tauntingly. "I choose Jo, Heather and Eva!"

* * *

**Confessional**

"_Eva?" Heather asked. "We're screwed."_

Static.

"_Finally, my team might actually stand a chance." Jo said._

Static.

"_I pity anyone who has to play against Eva." Alejandro said. "I am fortunate to have been able to avoid such pain."_

* * *

"Owen, Cody, Zoey and Dawn, you're on with me for the first round." Jo said. "We can still do this. Just get all of the balls to Owen and me."

The team nodded and made their way onto the court to face off with Bass members.

* * *

"Where have _you_ been?" Heather asked with narrow eyes as Gwen arrived and took her seat on the bleachers.

"Oh leave me alone." Gwen snapped in response.

"Whatever." Heather said, rolling her eyes. "Just make sure you cheer for our team."

"Yeah, fine, whatever." Gwen said, glaring as Duncan, Heather, Geoff, Zeke and Beth made their way out onto the court.

"Ready to lose yet?" Heather taunted from the Bass's side of the court.

"You're going down, Guppies!" Jo retorted.

Chef blew his whistle and the game began. Unfortunately for the Gophers, the game didn't last very long. Despite giving Jo and Owen all the balls because their aim was best, the Bass's strategy was too solid for them to overcome.

"Whoa, neat strategy." Gwen commented with wide eyes.

"Yeah, Duncan thought of it." Leshawna told her.

"Really?" Gwen asked, before shrugging and beginning to cheer. "Woo! Go Duncan!"

The same five Bass players: Duncan, Heather, Geoff, Zeke and Beth were up again in the next match. Despite the Bears' attempts to replicate the Bass's strategy, the Bass were victorious in the match.

"Eva, you're out." Chris said when the Bass hit the last of the Bears' players out. "Bass win the challenge!"

The Gophers rose and began to walk to take their side of the court for the final match, the match that would decide which team would be voting out a member that night. Unfortunately for them, it was that moment that Eva snapped.

Picking up the nearest ball off of the floor, Eva whipped it across the court in rage, hitting Jo hard in the face as the blonde made her way onto the court. The force of the hit sent the blonde sprawling backwards, and she lost consciousness.

"Ow!" Dawn's voice cried from under Jo's body.

"Jo! Dawn!" Zoey cried out, rushing over to her teammates with Cody and Owen. Trent and Alejandro rushed out onto the court.

"Jo? Jo?" Cody asked, waving his hand in front of the blonde's face, but getting no response.

"She's out cold." Zoey said. "Trent, Alejandro – you guys need to help Jo over to the bleachers, you'll have to carry her."

The two boys nodded and did as Zoey had instructed, leaving Zoey, Owen and Cody with the pale blonde who'd caught Jo. Owen observed the girl wince as he offered her a hand up. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, but I twisted my ankle when I fell. I'll be fine." Dawn replied.

"You can't play with a twisted ankle." Zoey said.

"I'm fine." Dawn said. "It's not that bad, really."

"You need to sit down." Zoey said while Cody offered himself for the blonde to lean on while she walked to the bleachers.

"Gophers, come on, we don't have all day!" Chris said. "Chop, chop!"

"Dude, we have injured players on our team, can we have a minute?!" Trent replied.

"Fine, five minutes! Then I want your team on the court and ready to play!"

"Dakota, you're playing." Zoey decided. "Noah, we need you to play too."

"Sports; not my forte, remember?" Noah said, glancing up from his book for only a second.

"But we need your help." Zoey said.

"You guys just need to try harder." Noah said.

"I don't see you trying very hard." Cody said, frowning.

"You're better off without me, I assure you." Noah said, prompting his teammates to roll their eyes.

"I'll say." Jo said, coming to at last. "I'm fine. I can play."

Jo stood up to make her way onto the court, but just wobbled and fell back onto the bleachers. Zoey frowned. "Jo, you're obviously not fine; you can't even stand up."

"I'm the only chance we have." Jo argued.

"I can play, I'm fine." Dawn argued.

"Senorita, you shouldn't walk on that ankle." Alejandro pointed out, glancing at Dawn's ankle, which was swelling quickly.

"But Jo can't do it." Dawn said.

"Yeah, I can. Just give me a minute or two and I'll be good to go."

"That's the spirit." Noah said.

"Oh shut up." Jo snapped.

"Time's up Gophers! On the court now or forfeit the match!" Chris said.

"I'm good to go, don't worry." Jo said, standing up and wobbling onto the court.

Almost all of the remaining Gophers stood up and moved to different parts of the bleachers or leaving the dodgeball court completely, disgusted by Noah refusal to play. Trent offered Dawn a hand. "Want me to help you walk back to the cabin?"

"Oh no, I'm alright here." Dawn assured him.

"Alright, if you say so." Trent said, sitting back down.

"Noah?" Dawn said.

"Yes?" he replied, pausing reading long enough to raise his eyebrow at the pale blonde.

"I think if you were as you wish you were – an only child – you would wish that you had the numerous siblings you have." Dawn said.

"What?!" Noah asked, closing his book with a snap. "I never – who told you that?"

"It's all over your aura." Dawn said, while Trent's green eyes grew wide and he scooted away from the blonde. "It's unfortunate that you feel the need to use sarcasm to shield yourself from getting close to others because you fear being hurt."

Noah's eyes grew wide as with discomfort as he listened to the pale blonde girl. "Please stop talking."

"I feel it is my duty to warn you - there is a fork in the path that you walk." Dawn said. "If you don't play today, I sense that your time on the island will be very short."

Noah rolled his eyes and set his book down on the bleachers before running out onto the court. "Hey guys, I changed my mind! I'll play!"

"Jo, go sit down." Zoey commanded. The blonde in the track suit obeyed on wobbly feet and staggered over to the bleachers, where she collapsed. Zoey turned to Noah. "What made you change your mind?"

"I uh. . . just wanted some time away from the coven therapist." Noah responded, scratching the back of his head.

"Who's my therapist?" Owen asked, looking confused.

"Not 'Owen's therapist', the 'coven therapist'." Noah said, receiving blank stares from his teammates. "No? A coven? You know, like a group of witches? Never mind, just forget I said anything and let's just play some dodgeball."

"Alright!" Zoey cheered, giving Owen a high five.

"But I think we need a strategy, so here's what we're going to go." Noah said, beckoning his teammates into a huddle.

Courtney, Mike, Scott, Bridgette and Eva were out on the court now, facing off against Dakota, Zoey, Cody, Owen and Noah.

As per Noah's plan, Owen had a ball in each hand and Cody and Zoey each had a ball.

The whistle blew and the game began.

Owen let out a battle cry and charged to the centre line. While the Bears were focused on Owen, Zoey and Cody were able to hit out both Scott and Mike – who had gone back to being Mike prior to the match. The Gophers exchanged high fives before the remaining Bears used their copied strategy to eliminate Owen.

The remaining Bears targeted Zoey next, eliminating her swiftly. Cody, Noah and Dakota took charge of the remaining balls to target Bridgette before Courtney and Eva hit Cody out as well. Courtney smiled with determination, and aimed a ball hard at Dakota.

"Hey! Take it easy!" Dakota complained as she caught the ball.

Chef's whistle blew: Courtney was out and Owen was back in.

That was enough to set off Eva's temper once more, and she whipped a ball across the court and hit Dakota in the face. The girl, almost immediately getting a bruise on her chin, began to cry and sprinted off of the court before Chef had even blown the whistle.

It was Noah and Owen versus Bridgette and Eva.

* * *

**Confessional**

_Dakota was crying her eyes out in the confessional. "Eva is so mean!" Then she stopped, pulled out a mirror and checked her face. "Not blotchy, but ugh – this bruise looks awful." She sighed. "Okay. Take two." And began crying once more._

* * *

Noah picked up the balls from the Gopher's side of the court, and handed one of them to Owen. Owen let out a battle cry and threw one ball straight up in the air. Then, while Bridgette was watching the one arcing high across the court, Noah handed a second ball to Owen.

"Watch out!" Eva called to Bridgette, who looked forward seconds too late, being hit out by Owen. This further angered Eva, who took Owen out with a hard hit to the face.

Eva and Noah were the only players left on the court.

"You're going down, shrimp!" Eva called.

"Yep, probably." Noah agreed quietly as Eva picked up the first ball. Those Gophers who remained in the arena were looking as though they had lost all hope of winning the match, and seemed to be considering who to vote out that night.

Eva narrowed her eyes and whipped the ball across the court at him.

Most members of his team closed their eyes and waited for the thud of the rubber ball against Noah's body.

But it didn't come.

Instead, the sound of the ball hitting the back wall of the arena sounded, followed by a snarl of irritation from Eva, followed shortly by another slam of rubber ball against the back wall. And another.

"Whoa." Jo and Dawn commented in unison, their eyes wide and Jo's mouth agape.

Their teammates who had shut their eyes soon opened them to watch the match, sitting on the edge of the bleachers, watching as Noah managed to dodge Eva's attempts to get him out again and again, which in turn increased her rage on the court.

"Time out!" Jo called to Chef, who nodded his consent.

"Whoa dude, where did you learn to dodge like that?!" Trent asked.

"With as strong a grasp on sarcasm as I have, it tends to tick off the more feeble-minded." Noah responded. Then he scratched the back of his head as he confessed. "I'm not as popular back home as you'd think."

"Wow, really?" Jo asked sarcastically.

"Yeah, you learn how to dodge various objects." Noah stated, unimpressed.

"Well, you're not gonna win by dodging." Jo stated.

"Oh, wow, really?" Noah asked sarcastically.

"Somehow you need to hit Eva out." Jo said, before shoving him back out onto the dodgeball court. "You'd better win this one, Bookworm!"

"I'M TAKING YOU DOWN!?" Eva roared from the other side of the court.

"Oh goody." Noah said with a sigh as Chef blew the whistle, resuming the game, and Eva began firing balls across the court with deadly force.

Noah picked up the nearest ball and threw it across the court, but he missed Eva and only fanned the flames of her temper.

Consumed by rage that Noah had dared to try and hit her out, Eva grabbed all four balls and threw them with such ferocity at Noah that it was a wonder that he could even dodge them.

And then one hit him in the stomach, and he was sent flying across the court, slamming full force into the back wall of the arena.

Chef blew the whistle, signifying the end of the game.

"ALRIGHT, I GOT HIM!" Eva cried out victorious as the Bears began to cheer victoriously.

As the Gophers sighed in defeat, Noah spoke up, his voice weak with pain. "Not so fast."

All eyes were on him as he held up the ball – he'd caught it.

Chef blew the whistle again and pointed at Eva before pointing to the sidelines.

"Gophers get second place! Bears are on the chopping block tonight!" Chris announced.

The score was:

Gophers: 4

Bass: 5

Bears: 3

"WOOOOO! GO NOAH!" the Gophers erupted into cheers.

* * *

**Confessional**

"_See? This is why I'm not into sports." Noah said, holding his still sore stomach. "Ugh, this is definitely going to bruise."_

Static.

"_I didn't know the Bookworm had it in him." Jo said with an approving nod._

* * *

"So it's agreed then – we're sure who we're voting for tonight?" Eva asked. B sighed before he nodded, then went on his way. Sadie nodded as well, but hung back.

"Eva – c-can I ask you something?" Sadie said.

"What do you want, Butterball?" Eva responded.

"You're so tough and strong. . ." Sadie said, her fingers linked behind her back as she studied her feet. "Can you teach me to be strong like you?"

Eva's eyes went wide in surprise. "Uh . . . sure."

"Really?!" Sadie asked in surprise. Then, she clapped her hands and threw her arms around Eva. "THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!"

Eva was completely taken aback by the sudden gesture, and seemed to have been rendered speechless.

Sadie's eyes went wide and she gasped when she realized what she was doing, and backed off immediately. "Sorry! I'm so sorry. Like so so so sorry!"

Eva seemed to be recollecting her tough attitude. "Well. . . uh. . . don't ever do it again!"

"Okay, I'll never ever do it again!" Sadie promised.

"Well . . . good!" Eva said.

* * *

**Confessional**

"_I definitely didn't enjoy that hug." Eva said, glaring at the camera. "And if anyone says I did – I'll rearrange their face."_

* * *

"How are you feeling, Jo?" Zoey asked.

"I've been better, but I'll live." Jo answered. She was walking beside Owen, who had – like a gentleman - offered her his arm to steady herself if she needed it.

"And how's your ankle, Dawn?" Zoey asked as she helped the blonde make her way back to their cabin.

"It's fine, really." Dawn assured her teammate.

The group fell silent. After a few moments, Noah rolled his eyes and spoke up. "I'm fine too, thanks for asking."

"Good to know, hero boy." Jo retorted. "You're lucky you changed your mind and decided to get on the court, otherwise we'd be sending you home tonight."

"Oh wow, after winning the challenge for you, this is the thanks I get."

"Hey, you stepped up and saved yourself from elimination. No point in telling you that we weren't going to vote you off if you didn't step up, since we were." Jo said."Besides, you didn't win the challenge, you won _one_ game for us."

"Remind me never to do it again, seeing how much appreciation I get."

"Yeah yeah, yeah. We appreciate you plenty for catching that ball." Jo said. "But up until that last match, you were useless. You deserved to be voted out."

"Gee, thanks."

"If Dawn hadn't warned you about the consequences of not playing, we'd be voting you out tonight – you realize that, right?" Trent asked in a low voice. He'd fallen back to walk beside Noah – behind the rest of the team.

"And your point is?" Noah asked suspiciously.

"You should do something nice in return."

"Like what?"

"I don't know – offer to carry her or something."

"Tell me you're not serious."

"You kind of owe her, dude."

"Yeah, but she's not MY responsibility."

"What are you two ladies whispering about back there?" Jo demanded, before grabbing Owen's arm to steady her balance.

Noah sighed in defeat. "Uh . . . Dawn, would you like me to carry you?"

"I'm fine, really." Dawn assured him, before contradicting herself with a wince.

"Come on Dawn, that's not true." Zoey protested, observing the blonde's wince.

"I don't want to be a bother. I'll be fine."

Jo rolled her eyes in irritation but made herself dizzy and had to grab Owen's arm again to avoid a faceplant. "Just shut up and do it."

"Ugh, _fine_." Noah conceded, walking over and picking Dawn up in his arms.

"You don't have to carry me. I'll be fine."

"Try telling _them_ that." Noah commented, rolling his eyes.

"Oh look Duncan, you're too late. The cockroach queen's already chosen a mate." Heather sneered as she caught sight of the other team. "Congratulations on your marriage."

Noah regarded Dawn with wide eyes as he realized that he was carrying her in much the same way a groom carries his bride. He put her down as fast as he could.

"Why don't you give her a piggyback instead?" Zoey suggested.

"Why couldn't you have suggested that in the first place?" Noah asked in irritation as he turned his back to Dawn and leaned down so she could get on his back without hurting her ankle.

* * *

**Confessional**

"_I have no problem thanking Dawn for her advice, but I'd rather keep as far from her as possible in future. I'm not saying I believe in all that hocus pocus stuff," Noah raised both hands and wiggled his fingers for effect. "But if I did, I'd say that Dawn was a witch. Either way, I'd rather stay as far from her as possible. Thanks for the help Trent, I really appreciate it, buddy."_

* * *

"Well hello Princess, fancy seeing you here." Duncan said with a smirk, leaning up against the wall as the brunette stalked past him.

"What do you want?" she asked, halting for a moment to glare at him.

"That's a pretty harsh tone." He said. "What's the matter? Something on your mind? Like a guilty conscience?"

"What are you talking about?" she said, her glare darkening.

"And here I thought Princess was above theft."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Oh I'm sure you do." he said. "But I'll refresh your memory anyway: you stole my dodgeball strategy."

"I don't classify that as theft – I prefer to call it 'adaptation'."

"Oh, that's a good one. I'll have to remember that." he taunted her.

"What do you want?" she demanded once more. "Can't you go bother someone on your own team?"

"That hurts, Princess."

"And stop calling me Princess!"

"You know you like it."

"No, I don't, actually. But you wanna know what I would like? If you'd just get lost."

"Oh come on, we both know you don't mean that." he smirked. "We both know you dig me."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Do not!"

"Everyone knows you do. I know. Your teammates know. My teammates know. Even the other team knows! You're the only one who won't admit it."

"I. DO. NOT. LIKE. YOU."

"Alright, if you say so." he said, not convinced.

She rolled her eyes in irritation before trying to change the subject. "What did you do to that Harold guy? The one who slept on the steps?"

"He kept us up snoring, so we tossed him in the lake."

"That's not very nice." She said, before narrowing her eyes. "And who's we?"

"Gwen and I."

"Gwen – that goth girl, right?"

"Do I detect a hint of jealousy there, Princess?"

"No, of course not! Why would I be jealous? I can't stand you!"

"You seem to be doing a pretty good job of it right now."

"I'M NOT JEALOUS."

"Actually, I was referring to being able to stand me."

"Oh."

"You know, if you just admit that you like me, I might let you kiss me."

"As if. Gross! In your dreams! Why would _I_ want to kiss _you_?!" Courtney snarled, outraged. "I'm done here."

Then, with her fists clenched in anger, she whirled around and stormed off into the night.

* * *

**Confessional**

"_You know, that girl really creases me." Duncan said, before his frown turned into a half-smile. "I really dig that in a chick."_

Static.

"_Duncan and me? Right. As if. I'm so sure. Not in a million years. Puh-lease! When pigs fly." Courtney said._

"_Yo. Are you still busy protesting in there or can someone else have a turn?" Leshawna's voice called from outside the confessional._

"_Like I was saying: not gonna happen." Courtney finished._

* * *

"Bears, you're back to send someone else home tonight. I have eleven marshmallows. There are twelve of you. Tonight we will find out who you have chosen to take the walk of shame." Chris said. "Mike. B. Courtney. Bridgette."

The four teens caught their marshmallows.

"Izzy. Sadie. Scott."

The trio stood up to collect their marshmallows.

"Cameron, Lightning."

Sadie gasped as she realized that Eva was in the bottom two.

"And the final marshmallow of the night goes to. . ."

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

"Eva."

Sadie sighed in relief as Eva stepped forward to collect her marshmallow, and Courtney frowned.

"Sam, you're going home tonight." Chris said.

"At least I wasn't first!" Sam cheered. Then as he began his walk towards the dock of shame, he paused as he realized something. "Hey Chris, can I have my game back now?"

"Keep walking." Chef said, giving Sam a shove onto the boat.

"Sure!" Chris said. "Here you go!"

He tossed the game console to Sam, but purposely didn't throw it far enough and it splashed into the water by the boat. Sam cried out in horror, leaning over to scoop out his drowned game console. "Noooooo!"

* * *

"And that concludes another episode of Total Drama Island! What challenges still await these teens? Tune in next time to find out!"

* * *

**Please review! I tried to add as much non-challenge character interaction as I could – you should tell me what you thought of it all. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. :)**

**I have several other Total Drama fanfics which you guys should check out! Hopefully you'll think they are good as you guys have been telling me this one is! :)**

**A Total Drama Roleplay needs campers! **Find it by adding a period between fanfiction and net and going to the following url: fanfictionnet/forum/A-Total-Drama-Roleplay/97922/


	6. Not Quite Famous

**Gah, sorry this has taken so long to post! Life has been getting in the way. Hopefully the next chapter won't take so long!**

**I discovered that the song Trent names as his favourite in The Big Sleep is actually a real song. She Will Be Loved is by Maroon 5 and I think it's such a characteristically Trent song.**

**Speaking of Total Drama and music, does anyone else think that Revenge of the Island should have been musical like World Tour? After all, Chris did state that the singing was his favourite of the show.**

**Thank you all for the reviews I have received - I read every single review that I receive. :)**

**I don't own Total Drama.**

* * *

"Last time on Total Drama Island, the teens played a classic game of dodgeball!" Chris announced. "Things were going well for the Bears until the Bass woke up Duncan who brought a juvie strategy to the game. After a three-way tie breaker, the Bass came out on top. The Gophers fought hard but hope seemed lost when the Bears 'adapted' the Bass's strategy. However, when Noah was able to catch one of Eva's murder balls he claimed second place for the Gophers. In the end, it was the Bears who headed to the campfire ceremony, where they sent Sam home. Get ready for the most dramatic episode of Total Drama Island, _ever_!"

_**Cue theme song.**_

"This is so, way beyond bad!" Gwen sat up, Lindsay's complaints having woken her from her peaceful slumber. "I'm out of fake tanner already!"

"Whoa, that's tragic Lindsay." Gwen said sarcastically.

"Now I have to actually like suntan – in the sun! Do you realize how shrivelled and wrinkly that can make your skin?" Lindsay complained, walking over to Gwen – who was using her own saliva to deal with her bedhead. Leaning close to inspect the girl's hair and face, Lindsay became sympathetic. "Oh, you totally do."

Suddenly an air horn sounded before Chris's voice began to reach every camper's ears via the P.A. System. "Alright campers, enough beauty sleep! Time to show us what you're made of!"

* * *

"Are we going to see a musical?" Lindsay asked as she and her fellow campers took their places on the bleachers in front of the stage. "I love musicals, especially the ones with singing and dancing!"

"Because they're so much better than musicals without singing and dancing." Noah quipped, rolling his eyes.

"I know, right?" Lindsay said.

"Gwen, saved you a seat." Trent called, patting the spot beside him on the bleachers. The goth girl took one look at him and then gave him a look so dark it could have killed him. Crossing her arms, she instead sat on the bleachers as far from him as she could get.

"What's up with her?" Zoey asked as she sat on the bleachers beside Trent.

"I don't know; I don't think I've said or done anything wrong."

"Maybe she's just having a bad day." Zoey suggested with a shrug.

"Maybe." Trent said, obviously not convinced.

"Welcome to our brand new, deluxe, state of the art, outdoor amphitheatre! Okay, this week's challenge is a summer camp favourite: a talent contest!"

"Yes! Awesome!" Owen cheered.

"Each team has eight hours to pick their three most talented campers. These three will represent them in the show tonight. Sing, dance, juggle, anything goes – as long as it's legal!" Chris walked across the stage. "You'll be judged by our resident talent scout: former DJ, VJ and rap legend – Grand Master Chef who will show his approval via the Chef-o-meter. The team that loses will send one camper home tonight! Good luck!"

* * *

Heather blew her whistle to get her team's attention. "Alright, I'm the team captain so here's how it's going to work."

"Wait, who said you were team captain?" Gwen asked.

"She did, just now." Lindsay answered.

"Lindsay, Beth and I took a vote – and I won." Heather said.

"Threatening them to vote for you isn't exactly democratic." Gwen said.

"Hey, snagged you an extra muffin." Trent said, arriving and holding out a muffin to Gwen.

"Trent, you're cool with me leading this project, aren't you?" Heather asked.

"Uh. . . sure, go for it." Trent responded.

"He isn't even on our team!" Gwen retorted, before turning her glare to Trent. "Aren't you forgetting someone? Like maybe Zoey? I'm outta here."

"Where are you going?!" Heather demanded as the goth girl stormed off, her diary under her arm.

"Anywhere that's not here." Gwen growled.

"Um. . . okay then." Trent said, his green eyes wide with confusion. Then, shrugging at the goth's strange behaviour, he left the Bass and rejoined his own team.

"Beth, Lindsay and I will be the judges." Heather said.

* * *

"Hey Trent, what's up?" Zoey asked her friend as he sat down on the steps with his teammates.

"I think Gwen's mad at me." Trent said, still looking puzzled.

"Really?" Zoey asked in confusion. "What for?"

"I have no idea. All I did was offer her a muffin and she stormed off." Trent said. "And she said something about me giving the muffin to you instead."

"Okay then. That's weird."

"Definitely." Trent said. "So, do you want the muffin?"

"Sure. Toss it here." Zoey said.

"It's all yours. Go wild." Trent said as he gently tossed the muffin into the redhead's waiting hands.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

"So what talents do you guys have?" Jo asked, standing in front of the team with Alejandro, watching him mistrustfully out of the corner of her eye.

Owen jumped up to demonstrate his talent first, chugging a full three litre bottle of pop in under a minute before belching the alphabet in one huge burp.

"Ew." Dakota said, flinching. "That's disgusting!"

"That was excellent, man." Trent said, giving Owen a high five before turning to Dakota. "Do you know how hard it is to burp the entire alphabet in one go?"

"Ew, I'd rather not." Dakota responded, flipping her hair.

"I can also toot Beethoven's fifth." Owen said, bending over to demonstrate.

"No!" protested Dakota, Ann Maria and Zoey in unison.

"As _charming_ as that is, I don't think that it's quite right for the talent show." Alejandro said.

"What, can't handle a little gas?" Jo said, raising an eyebrow at Alejandro. Then she turned her attention to Owen. "You can be our backup act."

"Hey Trent, you should audition." Zoey said, nudging her friend. "I heard you playing by the dock the other night; you're really good."

"Thanks, maybe I will." Trent said with a nod.

* * *

"Oh my gosh! Katie and I dance together!" Sadie told her team as they sat around, trying to figure out what talents to display on the show. Then Sadie grew sad. "I wish Katie were here! We could totally dance!"

"That would be helpful – if Katie was here and was actually on_ our_ team!" Courtney told the girl, rolling her eyes.

"Can't you just dance by yourself?" Eva asked, not looking impressed.

"No! It's not the same if I don't have a partner to dance with!" Sadie said. Then her eyes grew wide and she looked at Eva.

"Oh no, not in a million years!" Eva said, guessing what the girl was about to propose.

"Come on! I bet you're a great dancer!"

"No! Never!" Eva said, crossing her arms and shaking her head. "I don't dance – and I especially don't dance on national television!"

"Come on! It'll be fun!" Sadie said, grabbing her stereo and Eva's hand and dragging the girl away – unintentionally provoking Eva's temper in the process.

* * *

Heather's performance was of swan-like grace. She'd clearly practised ballet for many years of her life. Her teammates applauded her when she'd finished.

"Thank you." Heather said sweetly. Then, casting a sideways glance at an applauding Lindsay and Beth, she coughed. "_Hem hem_."

"Oh!" Lindsay said. "I vote for Heather to be in the contest!"

"I second that!" Beth said with an eager nod.

"Guys, that is so sweet!" Heather said. "Okay, I guess I'm in. Why doesn't everyone take five?"

The team nodded in agreement and began to wander off, but Heather caught Lindsay's arm and held her back.

"I need you to do something; can you keep a secret?"

"Oh my gosh, definitely! My sister got diarrhoea on a date once and I had to bring her toilet paper because the restaurant was all out and she was stuck in the bathroom and I've never told a soul." Then her eyes grew wide as she realized what she'd just said. _On camera_. "Oops, sorry Paula."

"Gwen's up to something serious." Heather handed Lindsay a walkie talkie and a pair of binoculars. "I want you to follow her and report back to me."

* * *

"Aside from me, does anyone on our team actually have a talent that we can put in the show?" Courtney asked.

"I can stand on my hands for twenty minutes." Bridgette said, beginning to demonstrate. "Watch!"

"Okay, that would be cute if you were a monkey." Courtney said. "I just don't think it's quite what we're looking for. Next!"

Lightning walked up next with a football and proceeded to completely astound his team by aiming at long range targets with his football – and repeatedly hitting bulls-eyes.

* * *

Tyler was performing tricks with his yo-yo. He wasn't bad – not great, but not terrible. At first. His performance took a turn for the worst when he flicked his wrist to recall the yo-yo but ended up winding its long string around his entire body – tying himself up.

Chris walked by, checking on the progress of the teens and laughed at Tyler. "Dude, that is weak."

Tyler frowned as Chris walked away to check the other teams' progress, and struggled to untie himself to no avail. As DJ began his ribbon dance – which Heather did not seem terribly impressed by, Tyler began to walk away.

"Fine, I guess you can be our backup." Heather told DJ as Tyler retreated.

As he made his way across the campsite, the yo-yo kept bouncing, hitting him in the butt repeatedly.

Meanwhile, a busty blonde was staked out behind a tree, obediently doing what Heather had commanded – keeping tabs on the goth girl, Gwen.

"Something serious?" Lindsay said as she watched Gwen through the binoculars that Heather had given her. "Yeah, seriously boring." Bored, Lindsay began to scan around with the binoculars, eventually coming to focus on a cute butt in a pair of red track pants. "Ooooh, _that's_ not boring."

* * *

"Can you do anything, bookworm?" Jo asked, glaring at Noah who – as usual – had his nose buried deep in a book. "Aside from read?"

"My talents are strictly academic." Noah responded as he turned to the next page in the book. "I mean, if you're desperate, I could read a monologue or something else befitting my fantastic intellect, but I really don't think that the audience here would be very appreciative of such talents."

"Yeah, I kinda agree with you there." Jo said, turning back to the rest of the team. "Helmet hair – have you got anything?"

* * *

"Lindsay, come in." Heather's voice crackled over the walkie-talkie. "What did you find out? Over."

However, Lindsay was too busy swapping spit with Tyler to respond. She reached for the walkie-talkie but gave up almost immediately because it was too far away. Sitting on Tyler's lap, her reaching for the walkie-talkie had off-balanced him and soon Lindsay was on top of Tyler as the two made out on the sinks in the communal washroom.

"Lindsay, where are you?!" Heather demanded.

Tyler reached over and grabbed the walkie-talkie for his girlfriend, holding it for her as she responded.

"Oh! Uh. . . on my way back! Under!" Lindsay responded before her lips were pressed against Tyler's lips once more.

* * *

As Lindsay and Tyler rejoined the Bass, they were just in time to see the end of Beth's fire-baton twirling.

"Are you sure that's safe?" Heather asked, flinching as the end of one of the flaming batons whirled too close for comfort.

"It's okay! I've been practising!" Beth answered with a wide smile and a nod as she tossed the batons into the air.

"Wicked cool!" Tyler exclaimed, giving a thumbs up to show his approval before almost instantly regretting it. Along with his teammates, he dove behind the picnic benches for safety while the fire baton struck the ground, burning a hole into it.

"I kind of missed the class on catching." Beth admitted.

* * *

"Hey guys, the bush is on fire." Zoey informed her teammates, staring wide-eyed at the landing place of Beth's second fire baton.

Suddenly, the door nearest the burning bush was flung open and Justin appeared with a fire extinguisher, the dancing flames reflecting in the lenses on his designer sunglasses. Quickly spraying fire-suppressant foam all over the burning bush, the flames were extinguished, while the Gophers watched in awe.

Zoey walked up to him and handed him a water bottle.

Justin took off his shirt to display his eight-pack abs and drained the entire bottle of water. A single drop escaped his mouth and fell from his lip to his bare chest, where it evaporated into steam the moment it came into contact with his skin.

The display had caught the attention of nearly all of the female contestants and even a few of the male contestants as well. Even Jo was staring at Justin's well defined abs and pecs. Dawn, who was meditating on a picnic table, was the only female contestant in the area not staring at Justin.

"Okay, so Justin's in the show." Jo decided, still looking awestruck. "Any objections?"

But of course nobody had any.

* * *

"What'cha got there? A journal?" Cody asked, making his way over to the stump that Gwen was sitting on with as much swagger as he could muster.

"Beat it." Gwen said, not looking up.

"Oh, I get it. It's private, huh?" Cody asked, sitting down on the stump beside her. "I'm down with that; yeah, it's cool, bra."

Gwen tolerated him for a short while, until he leaned over to try and read what she was writing. Pulling her diary to her chest top hide her words, she looked at him again. "What part of beat it don't you understand?"

Cody said nothing, and when the girl went back to writing, he leaned over and took a deep breath. Her eyes wide, Gwen snapped her book shut and jumped away from him. "What are you, some kind of freak?"

"You just smell really pretty." Cody responded sheepishly.

"It's just soap." Gwen said, before turning her back to the brunette boy and going off in search of a new hiding place to write.

* * *

"I'm not even going to ask." Gwen said as she stepped over the hole that Beth's baton had burned into the ground. Cody, who was still following her, hopped over it. As he made his way up the steps to the girls' cabin after her, Jo caught him by the shoulder.

"Not so fast there Cassanova." Jo said, dragging him down the steps and back to the Gophers' group.

"_Finally_!" Gwen said, relieved, as she returned her diary to its hiding place and put her swimsuit on. Grabbing her towel, she made her way outside once more, this time on her way to the dock.

Pausing to watch the latest audition for the talent show, Gwen almost seemed impressed by the stunts and tricks that Geoff could perform with his skateboard.

"Ooooh, that was like so cool!" Lindsay exclaimed when he was finished. "Jack should like totally be in the show!"

"It's Geoff." The blonde party boy corrected her.

"Okay, so I guess Geoff's in too." Heather said with a nod. "I guess we're all set for the show tonight!"

"I'm gonna be on tv, dude!" Geoff cheered as their teammates wandered off.

"You're already on tv." Gwen said, rolling her eyes in irritation before continuing on her way to the beach.

"Are you going swimming?" Geoff asked.

"No, I thought I'd go for a hike." Gwen said sarcastically.

"Sweet! I'll come with you!" Geoff said, dashing into the boys' side of the cabin and emerging dressed in his swimwear.

"Lucky me." Gwen said unenthusiastically.

"Awww, look. The first hook-up of the season." Heather said with a smirk. "How sweet."

"Wow, that was _so_ funny that I forgot to laugh." Gwen retorted, walking towards the beach at a faster than usual pace so as to avoid walking beside Geoff.

"Oh my gosh, you have that problem too?" Lindsay asked.

Lindsay made as if she were going to follow the goth girl and the party boy to the beach, but Heather stuck out her arm. "You – stay here. We've got a diary to find."

"Uhh. . . okay." Lindsay said, turning towards the door of the cabin.

"No, you stand guard. If you see Gwen coming, warn me!" Heather said, before pulling the door shut behind her when she went into the cabin.

"Okay!" Lindsay agreed, saluting.

* * *

"Can you really stand on your hands for twenty minutes?" Mike asked Bridgette while Courtney practised her violin by the stands.

"Wanna bet that I can't?" Bridgette asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, you're on!" Mike said.

"Lightning wants a piece of that action!"

"Twenty minutes? Is that even physically possible?" Cameron asked.

"Ante up." Bridgette said, holding out her chocolate bar.

Bridgette offered up her chocolate bar and the guys all bet in cash. Once the prize had been established, Bridgette nodded.

"Alright, twenty minutes starting right . . . _now_!" And she flipped herself upside down, and walked across the stage on her hands. Unfortunately, as she walked backstage, her leg caught in a stray rope and became tangled – but as much as she pulled and twisted, she couldn't get free.

* * *

"Isn't this place great?" Geoff asked, putting his arm around Gwen's shoulders as he attempted to make small talk. "Man, you walk fast."

"Ugh, don't touch me." Gwen said, pulling away from him.

"It's cool, bra." Geoff said, taking his arm off her shoulders and holding up his hands apologetically.

"This place sucks." Gwen stated, picking up her pace even more to escape her unwelcome companion.

"Really?" Geoff said, sounding disappointed as he sped up to match her pace. "Man, it really bites that you feel that way."

"I just need to get away from everyone here." Gwen said, hoping that he would get the hint. "Because _everyone_ is driving me crazy."

"Aww man." Geoff said, looking disappointed by his teammate's downer attitude. Then he brightened. "Hey! Maybe I can help!"

"The idiot can't take a hint." Gwen muttered to herself under her breath.

"Come on!" Geoff said, suddenly grabbing the girl's hand and taking off at a sprint towards the end of the dock, pulling her with him.

"Wait, no!" Gwen said, resisting to no avail.

"Cannonball!" Geoff called as he jumped into the lake, pulling Gwen in with him.

The goth soon surfaced, spluttering and thrashing. Her entire body soaked, she quickly pulled herself out of the water and onto the dock. Her fists clenched, she glared at Geoff.

"I HATE THIS PLACE!" Gwen announced before storming off.

* * *

"If I were a secret diary, where would I be stashed?" Heather asked herself while outside Lindsay braided a lock of her blonde hair.

"Hey Gwen." Lindsay's voice came from outside of the cabin. "Gwen! It's you! Hi, what are you doing here outside the cabin, _Gwen_?"

"Trying to get _into_ the cabin." Came Gwen's unimpressed response.

"Oh, you're trying to get into the cabin? That's very interesting!" Lindsay responded loudly. "Wait! Stay here! We can . . . get tans together! And you could totally use one!"

Then she found it. Quickly flipping through the pages, it was a diary. Doing a fist pump, Heather smiled. "Yes! She is so dead!"

"Are you going to move, or do I have to throw you out of my way?" Gwen asked.

"You can try, but I have martial arts training!" Lindsay said as Heather shoved everything out of the way and tried to make the cabin look less suspicious. "Okay, you can go in!" Lindsay followed the goth girl inside. "Look, Gwen's back!"

"Hey Gwen, did you have a good swim?" Heather asked sweetly.

"What is going on in here?" Gwen asked, looking around.

Heather faked a yawn and a stretch. "Nothing, just resting before the big show. Are you always so paranoid?"

"Yeah, really?" Lindsay said before waving to Gwen and taking off after Heather.

* * *

"It's the T-D-I talent extravaganza!" Chris announced. "Welcome to the very first Camp Wawanakwa talent contest, where nine campers will showcase their mad skills and desperately try not to humiliate themselves! First up for the Screaming Gophers is Justin!"

The male model appeared on the stage, bathed in the spotlight. As his teammates cheered for him, he turned around to face the audience and began to strike different poses, building up to the climax of the act, where he sat down on a wooden stool and pulled a string, dumping a bucket of water on himself. Then he sat up and flipped his hair and flashed the audience his winning smile.

* * *

**Confessional**

"_There are two syllables for hot: Jus and Tin! Man that guy is just so hot I could kiss him!" Owen told the camera, before realizing what the implications of his words were. "Because he's a good teammate! D'oh! Why'd I say that?"_

* * *

"Okay, I don't know what that was, but dang, you've got some moves, dude!" Chris said as a seven out of ten flashed on the Chef-o-meter. As Justin made his way off the stage, Chris continued. "First up for the Killer Bass – give it up for the big guy: DJ!"

"Woo, yeah!" cheered the Bass as DJ made his way onto the stage in a white leotard and began a ribbon dance.

It started out as graceful and majestic as it had been earlier that day during the auditions. However, DJ did a different step and the ribbon ended up wound around his ankles and he stumbled for a moment, almost falling on his face before he used his strength to pull free the ribbon and decided to end the performance, smiling as though he'd meant to do that.

"Dainty and yet masculine. Let's see what Grand Master Chef thinks." Chris said as a two out of ten flashed on the Chef-o-meter. "Not much. Next up is Courtney!"

The brunette walked onto to the stage and almost immediately caught the attention of a certain blue eyed punk. He raised an eyebrow as she raised her violin and began to play a solo.

When the sweet chords of Courtney's violin finally came to an end, Chris walked into the stage, motioning to the Chef-o-meter, which was flashing an eight out of ten.

"Not bad." Chris said. "So, with three down and six to go, it's the Thrashing Bears thrashing ahead. Next on deck is Trent – take it away my bro!"

Trent made his way to centre-stage and sat down on the chair that had been set out for him. As he got ready to play his guitar, he searched the stands with his green eyes, seeking out the pretty goth girl he'd had a crush on since he'd first laid eyes on her on the dock on his first day at Camp Wawanakwa. "This one goes out to someone special here at Camp."

He began to strum his guitar and sang his song about their time at camp.

"Nice work!" Chris said, running out onto the stage as the other campers applauded. "I'm liking your style, dude! And so does Grand Master Chef! Nine out of ten!"

"Yes! _Nine_ points!" Trent cheered.

"Woo! Go Trent!" Zoey called out.

"Alright quit hogging my light, buddy." Chris said, shoving Trent backstage when the musician failed to move immediately. "Four down and five to go with the Killer Bass totally sucking so far. Can they redeem themselves with their next talent? Let's hear it for Heather!"

"Originally, I was going to dance for you." Heather said, coming out on stage in her ballerina attire and taking a seat on the wooden stool that had been set out on the stage for her. "But instead I want to celebrate team spirit with a collaboration."

Heather held up Gwen's diary and smirked at the goth girl, whose eyes went wide when she realized what book Heather held in her hands. Shock and dread filled her tone. "She wouldn't."

"So, with words by Gwen, performance by me – enjoy." Heather said. "_Hem, hem_. 'Okay, so, I've been trying to ignore him but he hasn't been making it easy. He's just so cute and he's always making excuses to come and talk to me. If they had custom ordered a guy to be a distraction to me here, it would have been McHotty.'"

"Yeah, I knew she was hooked on the Codester." Cody said quietly, leaning back on the bleachers as coolly as he could.

"'We just totally connect and I think he's pretty much the only person I can relate to here. And I know it's a cliche but I love guys who play guitar.'"

"Wait, I don't play the guitar." Cody said, glancing around at his teammates. His disappointed blue gaze came to rest on Trent's guitar.

"'The only thing is – I don't get the whole thing with that redhead on his team. One minute he's making out with Zoey on the bleachers and the next thing I know he's snagging me an extra muffin from the kitchen! I don't understand – can't he make up his mind who he wants?'"

"Uh, Trent? I think I've figure out why she's been so cold towards you lately." Zoey said as she and Trent exchanged an awkward glance.

"Uh yeah, me too." Trent said with a nod before the duo shifted away from one another, trying to put additional distance between them on the bleachers. Zoey put her half-eaten muffin down on the seat of the bench between them.

Heather watched as Gwen fled the scene, before closing the diary with a satisfied smirk. "Thank you."

"That was so mean." Courtney said to her teammate backstage.

"Seriously." Bridgette agreed with a nod, still upside down – her leg still caught in the rope. "Hey, Courtney? Can you help me? I've been standing on my hands so long they're starting to go numb."

"Yeah, sure." The brunette said, putting her violin aside to help untangle her friend.

"Thanks. Want me to go set up for the next act?" Bridgette said as she righted herself at last, and stumbled around for a few seconds on wobbly legs.

"Sure." Courtney said, letting go of the rope – which quickly zoomed upwards. Eyes wide, Courtney stared up as the rope seemed to untie itself – releasing a spotlight. "Uh-oh."

"Ooooh, now that was cold!" Chris said, motioning to the Chef-o-meter, which was flashing a full ten out of ten. "Next up is-"

"Watch out!" Courtney called out to the host.

Chris jumped out of the way in a panic as a spotlight came crashing down seconds later right where he'd been standing only moments before. It shattered upon impact and not only covered the stage in broken bits of plastic, metal and glass but left a dent in the stage.

"Uh, due to some technical difficulties, we will be right back!" Chris said, before hollering for some interns. "Clean up on stage centre!"

"I will be right back." Zoey told Trent as she left the bleachers.

* * *

"Gwen! Wait up!" Zoey called as she caught up to the goth girl.

"Leave me alone." The goth said.

"I want to talk to you." Zoey said.

"Don't worry, I'm not in the habit of stealing boyfriends. Trent's all yours." Gwen said, trying to hide the fact that she was crying.

"But that's what I'm trying to tell you! Trent's not my boyfriend!"

The goth paused. "He's not?"

"Nope. I don't know who told you that we were making out, but trust me – we're just friends. Totally platonic."

"Nobody told me you guys were making out – I saw it with my own eyes!"

"What? When?"

"During the dodgeball tournement!"

"I swear we haven't – oooooooh! I know what you saw!"

"So you two _did_ kiss?"

"No, definitely not! I don't like him like that, trust me!" Zoey said. "But when Tyler threw one of his murder balls, it flew into the stands and Trent tripped and fell on me when we were trying to get out of the way. It was _so_ awkward."

"Well. . . that's good to know, I guess." Gwen said, still teary-eyed.

"And in case you were wondering – Trent totally likes you." Zoey said with a smile.

"He does?" Gwen asked hopefully.

"Come on, wanna go back? He did save you a seat, after all."

Gwen seemed to consider it for a moment, before shaking her head. "No, I can't show my face there again."

"What Heather did was totally mean." Zoey said. "But by you running off – you're letting her think she's won."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Gwen said with a sigh. "Fine, you win."

"You're so lucky." Zoey said as the two began to walk back towards the amphitheatre.

"Heather just read my diary on national television – how exactly is that lucky?"

"Trent's so into you – you're going to be so cute together."

"Hey, I thought you said you weren't into Trent."

"I'm not." Zoey assured her. "I kinda like that guy on the Bears' team though – Mike."

"What's wrong with that?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure he's got a thing for his teammate, Bridgette."

"Oh, that's a shame." Gwen said. "Are you sure?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do you have proof that they're an item? Because what if they're like I thought you and Trent were?"

"No, I'm pretty sure they're together in a romantic way."

"Have you actually seen them kissing or holding hands or being otherwise romantic and coupley with one another?"

"Yeah, Mike and Bridgette were all cuddled up together at the awake-a-thon. Can't get much more coupley than that."

"That sucks. I'm sorry."

"No worries! Now, let's hurry back so we're in time for the next act!"

* * *

"Welcome back! Can the Bears top Gwen's diary reading by Heather? Probably not! But let's give it up for Lightning anyway!"

The macho boy walked onto the stage while a very disappointed-looking Mike pushed a cart of footballs onto the stage with him. There were various targets set up on the stage and Bridgette was working on setting up the last few in the woods behind the bleachers.

"SHA-LIGHTNING!" The boy exclaimed, grabbing the first football and smashing a hole through the very centre of the closest target. Then, one-by-one, he busted a hole in the very centre of every remaining target with his footballs.

"Impressive! Chef approves." Chris said, walking out onto the stage as the Chef-o-meter flashed a score of seven out of ten. "Next we shall be witnessing the magnificent talents of the great Alejandro!"

"Chris, you make it sound as though I'm going to do some lame magic tricks or something." Alejandro said.

"Hey! Magic tricks aren't lame!" Harold shouted from the audience.

"I would like to dedicate this song to a special lady in the audience." Alejandro said, scanning the audience with his green-blue eyes, pausing the longest on Heather, before he continued on, teasing many females in the audience with his charming smile.

After Alejandro's accordion solo was finished, many of the girls in the audience went wild – even more excited by Alejandro's performance than they had been by both Justin's pure sexiness and Trent's cute love song.

"Whoever said the accordion was dead was apparently wrong." Chris said, smirking as he walked onto the stage, the Chef-o-meter flashing a score of eight out of ten. "Nicely done, bro. Next up are the Bass with Geoff!"

Standing up to make his way backstage, Geoff jumped onto his skateboard, which broke in half. "Aww man, that seriously wrecks the ride!"

"What are we going to do now?" Beth asked in distress.

"What about Harold, eh?" Ezekiel suggested.

"Do we have another choice?" Leshawna asked.

Beth shook her head and walked up to the nerdy boy, who was sitting on the bleachers. "Harold, it's your time to shine."

"Booyah!" Harold cheered, jumping up and running onto the stage.

"It seems we have a last minute substitution – Harold will be representing the Bass." Chris announced as Harold made his way onto the stage.

"WHAT?!" Heather's angry voice came from backstage as the nerd walked up to the microphone, seeming nervous.

"You can do it Harold!" Beth, Tyler and Ezekiel cheered from the bleachers.

At his teammates' prompting, he then proceeded to completely wow the entire audience with his mad beatboxing skills.

"Wicked beatboxing, dude!" Chris said, applauding as he came out onto the stage. The Chef-o-meter was flashing a full ten. " Chef liked it so much that he's giving you a grand score of fifteen out of ten! Wow, it would really suck to have to follow that!"

"That's not fair!" Courtney whined. "The rating system was only out of ten!"

"Next up are the Thrashing Bears!" Chris announced, ignoring Courtney completely. "Can they redeem themselves?"

* * *

"Scott, are you sure you're ready?" Courtney asked the ginger-haired boy as the two stood backstage together, prepping for their team's final act.

"Of course. I'll have whittled grade 'A' Chris and Chef busts in no time at all." Scott assured the brunette. "You know how much Chris loves himself. We'll definitely win."

"Out of my way, losers." Eva said, shoving Scott aside and making her way onto the stage as Sadie followed her, carrying her stereo.

"What are you two doing?!" Courtney asked in alarm.

"We're going to show these losers what real talent is!" Eva said as she made her way onto the stage.

"Oh my gosh! Eva's totally amazing!" Sadie said, before running onstage after her friend, putting the stereo down and pressing the play button. Then, as Eva had instructed her, Sadie ran backstage to dance, so that the audience wouldn't be distracted from Eva's act.

And surprised as the cast had been when Harold had beatboxed his way to stardom onstage, the only thing that could possibly top their amazement would have been Eva's epic moves, which the bodybuilder demonstrated to them all.

Mouths hanging agape in amazement, the audience stared in wonder as Eva started breakdancing – and she was actually really _good_ at it too.

"Wow, that was pretty awesome!" Chris said as the Chef-o-meter flashed an eight out of ten score for Eva. "But despite Eva's cool moves on the dancefloor, Grand Master Chef has declared the Killer Bass to be the winners! Gophers are in second place and that means I will be seeing the Bears at the campfire ceremony again tonight."

* * *

**Confessional**

"_Okay, so I totally miss Katie, and she's still my BFFFL, but whoever said you can't have two BFFFLs? Eva is actually so totally cool!" Sadie told the camera. "And oh my gosh, can she ever dance! She's been teaching me how to be all independent and stuff! She is so cool!"_

* * *

"If only Eva hadn't decided to show off, we wouldn't be sending someone else home tonight!" Scott said to those teammates of his who were sitting on the steps.

"Well, she was actually pretty good." Bridgette said, while Mike nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, but you guys know how much Chris loves himself!" Scott said. "My sculptures of Chris and Chef would have won for sure!"

"He's got a point there." Courtney said.

"Lightning thought he was better than all of ya'll." the athlete told them all.

* * *

"Cam is actually such a sweetie! I don't wanna vote him out." Sadie said.

"We have to keep this team strong – we need to vote out the weak links." Eva told her. "And Cam's the weak link."

"I guess we're doing what's best for the team." Sadie agreed sadly.

* * *

"So Bears, it seems that you are on a losing streak. Sucks to be you." Chris said.

"Yeah yeah yeah, let's just get this over with." Eva growled.

Chris glared at the girl. "Marshmallows for Bridgette, Mike, Courtney and Brick."

The named contestants caught their marshmallows.

"Cameron, Izzy, Brick and Lightning."

The next four contestants caught their marshmallows while Eva looked surprised by the fact that Cam received a marshmallow.

"B and Sadie."

Eva looked around in surprise to find that she, alongside Scott, was in the bottom two.

"And the final marshmallow of the night goes to. . ."

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

"Scott."

"WHAT?!" Eva snarled angrily.

"NOOOOO!" Sadie began to wail, charging at Eva and lifting her off the ground as she pulled her into a great bear hug.

"Sadie! Put me down!" Eva commanded, her face flushing bright red with humiliation at being shown affection in such a public way.

"Eva, I'm going to miss you as much as I miss Katie!" Sadie wailed.

"Wow, really?" Eva seemed taken aback.

"Really!"

Eva's angry expression softened for a moment, and she seemed as though she was going to saw 'awwww', but then she seemed to remember who she was and resumed her angry expression.

"You're all going down!" Eva warned her former teammates, with the exceptions of B and Sadie.

"Goodbye, other BFFFL!" Sadie cried out, before releasing Eva from her bear hug and running off in a state of hysterics.

"Take care of her for me, will you?" Eva whispered to B, and the silent giant gave her a thumbs up in response. Then she turned back to her other teammates. "I WILL GET YOU FOR THIS!"

Eva's threats were temporarily paused by Chef's arrival. The ex-military man picked up the body builder and took her down to the dock, while she continued to scream profanities at her team, save Sadie and B.

* * *

**Confessional**

"_Eva was a strong player, henceforth she needed to go." Scott said. "Besides, I couldn't just let her have her little alliance – I'm in charge of this team, I control who gets voted out. No, she just had to go."_

Static.

"_If that evil, conniving little cow thinks she's getting away with reading my diary to everyone, she's got another thing coming." Gwen said._

* * *

Gwen knocked on the door to the boys' side of the Bass cabin, and was pleased when Harold answered the door. "Did you say you brought a red ant farm with you?"

"Yeah." Harold answered.

"Can I borrow it?" Gwen asked.

"Sure." Harold answered, puzzled. He disappeared for a moment before returning with it and handing it to the goth girl.

"Thanks." Gwen said, making her way back to the girl's side of the cabin. "Come meet auntie Heather."

Then she dumped the entire ant farm into Heather's bed before crawling back into her own. Heather arrived moments later and got into bed, before jumping out seconds later, screaming and covered from head to toe in red ants.

Gwen chuckled to herself as Heather fled the cabin. "Sweet dreams, everyone."

* * *

**Should I keep giving you food for thought with the disclaimers, or should I stop because nobody actually reads them?**

**Please review!**


	7. The Sucky Outdoors

**Sorry it's taken so long to upload this. My USB corrupted and I lost the nearly finished chapter, so I had to rewrite the entire thing from scratch.**

**I don't own Total Drama.**

* * *

"Last time on Total Drama Island, a talent contest brought out the worst in our campers – it was awesome!" Chris announced. "Everything was put on display: the hot, the talented and the just plain embarrassing! Alejandro showed that the accordion isn't dead after all, and Cody struck out with Gwen – big time. Tensions were running high on the Killer Bass team: Gwen stood up to Heather who retaliated by reading Gwen's diary out loud for the entire viewing world to hear. Harold showed that he actually has some mad skills when he beat-boxed the Bass to victory – who knew? Eva broke it down on stage and Scott broke down Eva's alliance by convincing the Bears to vote her off. Who will get sent home this time on Total Drama Island?"

_**Cue theme song.**_

"Campers, today's challenge will test your outdoor survival skills. I'm not going to lie: some of you might not even come back alive." Chris said, evoking gasps of horror from the teens. He laughed at their response. "Just joking. All you have to do is spend one night in the woods. Everything you need is at your team's campsite in the forest. You just have to find it."

"I'm great at survivin' in the woods, eh." Ezekiel told his team confidently.

Chris tossed a map and a compass to Heather, Cameron and Zoey. He began to walk away, before pausing. "Oh, yeah, and watch out for bears. We lost a few interns in pre-production."

"Ow! Papercut!" Cameron cried out, dropping the map and clutching his hand tightly as though it was the worst pain he'd ever experienced in his life.

"Watch the map!" Courtney barked, snatching the map off the ground and glaring at Cameron.

"Once, my neighbour got hit in the head by a newspaper and he got a papercut and bled to death." Izzy said.

Cameron only whimpered in response.

"Don't worry Cam, you won't bleed to death." Bridgette said, giving the boy a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's impossible." Trent agreed.

"As concerning as papercuts are. . ." Noah said sarcastically, before Leshawna cut him off.

"Did he say there were _bears_ up in here?"

"I had an encounter with a bear once." Owen bragged. "Let's just say his head looks real nice up on my mantle."

"Oh! This one time, I saw a bear eating our garbage. He had old spaghetti noodles hanging from his big, huge teeth and it looked like blood and guts – so gross! And we thought he was eating the neighbour's cat Simba, but it turns out he was just lost for a week." Izzy told Sadie and Bridgette, who were looking equally disturbed.

"Fascinating." Noah deadpanned, rolling his eyes at the ginger-haired girl.

"Uh. . . you didn't eat spaghetti, did you?" Izzy asked Sadie and Bridgette, who both shook their heads in response.

"Izzy, that's enough." Courtney said, unfolding the map. "Alright gang, everybody follow me!"

"Comrades, we must not fall behind – even if the other team is lead by an attractive and capable former-C.I.T.!" Alejandro said, catching Courtney's attention. The brunette blushed, earning Alejandro a dirty look from Duncan.

"Hey!" Heather cried out indignantly. "There are _three_ teams!"

* * *

**Confessional**

"_There is definitely nothing between me and that neanderthal – Duncan." Courtney said. "But Ale_hunk_dro on the other hand. . . well, we'll see."_

Static.

"_Very clever, Alejandro, very clever." Jo said, stroking her chin with her thumb and index finger as though she had a beard. "Throwing two teams off their game like that? Genius. Just one little thing:" She focused on the camera menacingly. "Better watch your back, Al, I'll be gunning for ya."_

* * *

"We don't have all day, _gorgeous_." Duncan said irritably, snatching the map out of Heather's hands and beginning to read.

"Whoa, _someone_'s jealous." Geoff whispered to Gwen, who glared in response.

"Don't talk to me." Gwen told him, arms folded over her chest as she walked into the woods, not waiting for directions from her teammates.

Geoff jogged to catch up to the goth girl. "Hey, if this is about the whole diary thing-"

"Please leave me alone." Gwen cut him off.

"-I just want you to know that I'm here to listen-"

"Thanks, but no thanks. I'm fine."

"-if you need to talk." He reached out and put a comforting arm around the goth girl's shoulders.

"Don't touch me." Gwen said, taking Geoff's arm off her shoulders and twisting it up his back.

The party guy gasped in pain. "Ow! Okay, okay, okay!"

The goth released him. "Don't talk to me. Don't touch me. Don't even walk with me. Got it?"

"Yeah, it's cool, bra!" Geoff said, halting in his tracks to rub his sore arm. He fell back in step with his other teammates, several paces behind Gwen.

"She is _so_ the next one to go." Heather declared, scratching the red bumps that covered her arms and legs.

"Who?" Duncan asked, glancing up from the map. "Pasty?"

"She dumped Harold's red ant farm _into my bed_!"

"After you read her diary on international television." the juvenile delinquent said. "I'd say that's fair."

Heather halted in her tracks, causing the rest of the team to bump into one another. The Asian beauty whirled around and glared at Duncan. "And I'm sure that _you're_ an expert when it comes to what's fair." she snapped. "What with all your juvie experience and all."

"You got that right,_ gorgeous_." Duncan responded drily. "Now keep moving so we can find our campsite before dark."

"She is going _down_!" Heather declared. "And if you want to go down with her, that's fine by me."

Duncan rolled his eyes and walked passed her, taking the leadership role for their team.

"Whoa, that was pretty harsh." Geoff commented to himself.

* * *

The blonde was holding her cell phone up in the air, frowning as angle after angle failed. Groaning in irritation, she brushed off her hands and walked up to a tree, beginning to climb it.

"Uhh. . . Dakota? What are you doing?" Cody asked the girl, raising an eyebrow at her as she hung from a tree, thighs gripping the trunk and one hand hanging onto an upper branch. Her hand searched the air with her cell phone, desperately trying to find service.

The sound of his voice seemed to startle her, and she shrieked as she fell out of the tree, landing on the brunette boy, who grunted as his breath was knocked out of him.

"Gosh darn it!" Dakota whined, looking at her cell phone screen again, dismayed.

"What's wrong?" Cody asked from under the girl.

"I can't get any service out here!" she answered.

"Want me to take a look?"

"You'd do that for me?"

"Sure – just one little thing. Can you get off of me, please?"

Dakota's eyes went wide as she suddenly realized that she was sitting on the boy's back. She jumped up, eyes wide. "Oh! Sorry!"

Cody sighed in relief as the girl's weight lifted from his back, and he got to his feet. He held out his hand. "Let me see?"

"I hope you can fix it." Dakota said solemnly as she places her precious cell phone in Cody's waiting hand.

"I'll do my best." he promised.

* * *

"B, can I ask you a question?" Sadie asked anxiously as the two followed the Thrashing Bears on a hike through the woods.

The silent genius shrugged in response, his lips puckered in confusion. What question could _he_ possibly answer for her?

"About our alliance – you still want to be in an alliance with me now that Eva's gone, right?" she asked.

B responded with a nod before giving the girl a thumbs up.

Sadie sighed with relief, before biting her lip. "B, did Eva ever tell you why she wanted me in the alliance? What she thought I brought to it?"

B puckered his lips while he thought for a moment, before shaking his head 'no'.

"Oh." Sadie said quietly. Then, after a few moments of silence, she spoke again. "What _do_ I bring to the alliance?"

B shrugged again.

"I mean, you're the intelligence, and Eva was our strength. What did I bring?"

B put an index finger to his lips, which were puckered as he thought. He tapped his finger against his lips for a moment, before his eyes grew wide, indicating that he'd come up with an answer.

He held up his hands, and used his index finger and thumb on each both hands to form a heart.

Sadie gasped in shock. "You love me?"

B shook his head.

Sadie's voice reflected the alarm on her face. "Eva loves me?!"

B shook his head again.

Sadie sighed with relief. "What are you saying, B?"

B held up his hands again, this time forming the letter 'E' with his fingers.

"Eva?" Sadie guessed.

B nodded and then flexed his arm, pointing at his muscles.

"Muscles?" Sadie nodded. "Eva is the muscle of our alliance."

B flashed her a thumbs-up before pointing to himself.

"You. B." Sadie said.

The boy took off his hat and pointed at his head.

"Head – brain – smart?" Sadie guessed. "You're the brains of our operation."

B nodded again.

"That's what I said. See? I don't fit in."

B made an 'S' with his fingers now, then pointed at Sadie.

"Me. Sadie."

B made the heart symbol with his hands again, pulling his hands in and pressing his hands against his chest.

"Heart?" Sadie asked, her eyes growing wide. "You think I'm the heart of the alliance? B, you're so sweet!"

B shrugged nonchalantly.

"You know what?" Sadie asked, as she wiped away a tear from her cheek.

B shrugged as if to ask 'what?'.

"You're officially my first ever BMFFL."

B raised an eyebrow at her.

"It means you're my 'Best Male Friend For Life'." she explained.

B smiled and flashed the girl another thumbs-up.

* * *

"Uhhh. . . there's no food here." Owen said, surveying the supplies that had been left at their campsite.

"This _is_ a survival challenge." Trent said, holding one side of the map.

"Yeah, look at the instructions." Zoey said, holding the other side of the map.

"I wonder if there are any bears around today." Owen said, glancing at Ann Maria. "Wouldn't it be funny if we made some bear sounds and then they came?"

Ann Maria paused her hairspray for a moment to raise an eyebrow at him. "No."

"ROOOOOOAAAAAR, I'M A BEAR!" Owen roared, curling his hands like claws.

"Comrade, perhaps it would be for the best if were weren't to summon any bears to our campsite for the moment." Alejandro said.

"Yeah! Listen to Al!" Ann Maria said, failing to notice Alejandro twitch as she suddenly grabbed onto one of Alejandro's wonderful arms, and fluttering her eyelashes at him.

"Yeah, I guess." Owen said, kicking at the ground like a scolded child.

"It says we're supposed to find our own food." Zoey told her teammates.

Ann Maria glanced down at the pile of supplies, then wrinkled her nose. "I still don't see it."

Trent and Zoey chuckled in unison, before Trent spoke. "I think they mean in the woods."

"I'll go!" Owen volunteered, starting to make his way towards the woods. "I'm good at finding food!"

"I'll bet you are." Jo agreed. Then she glanced around at her teammates. "Hey, has anyone seen Blondie and the Dweeb?"

"Blondie's right here." Noah said, glancing up from his book long enough to motion towards Dawn, who was meditating. She opened one eye to look at him, but didn't seem amused nor bothered in the slightest.

"No, the other one." Jo said. "Dakota."

Her teammates glanced around and shrugged.

* * *

"Hey, just calm down." Scott's voice said soothingly.

"How can I calm down?! Just look at our map!" Courtney shrieked.

"Well I'm sure Brick didn't do it on purpose." Scott said.

"I thought you said you were competent!" Courtney shouted at Brick. "'I'm a cadet!' you said, 'I'm great with maps!' you said! But look at where it's got us!"

"Hey, go easy on the guy." Scott said. "It was an accident. Brick wouldn't sabotage his own team now, would he?"

"It's okay." Brick said to Scott, before turning back to Courtney. "Ma'am, I take full responsibility for my incompetence. If you choose to banish me from the team, it will be what I deserve."

The brunette turned her back to her team, her finger on her lips.

"Oh come on, you can't actually be _considering_ banishing him!" Bridgette said. When Courtney did not respond, Bridgette looked alarmed. "In the woods? _At night_? Courtney, have you lost your mind?"

"Bridgette, look at this." Courtney said at last, turning around and handing Bridgette a torn and muddied piece of paper to her teammate. It had been torn in half by a submerged branch, and half of it was lost. The team had tried to find it, but had given up and tried to follow the other half of the map instead. That had ended the entire group of them ankle deep in thick, sucking mud.

"You're going to kick him off the team because of an accident?!" Bridgette asked, still trying to make Courtney see some sense.

"No." Courtney said. Bridgette sighed with relief. Courtney narrowed her eyes. "No, it's more like temporary solitary confinement."

"Yes, ma'am." Brick said, saluting the brunette and then starting to fight his way through the mud, making his way away from his team.

"_Courtney_!" Bridgette said pleadingly.

"That was like so totally harsh." Sadie whispered to B, her eyes wide with fear as she glanced at Courtney.

* * *

"I'm so hungry." Zoey said, her arms folded against her stomach. "It feels like my stomach is about to digest itself."

"I am man! I bring fish!" Owen announced, arriving from the bushes with a makeshift rope tied around several fish.

"Aw, yeah. Now that's what I'm talking about!" Ann Maria said.

"Oh man, you're awesome!" Trent said.

"Those look great, Owen!" Zoey agreed. "I bet they're going to be super yummy!"

"How do _you_ know how to fish?" Jo asked, raising an eyebrow at Owen.

"My grandpa taught me." Owen said. "I caught a shark once. It bit me in the butt. Check it out."

Without waiting for a response, Owen dropped his pants and bent over so that his teammates could see the shark-bite scar on his pale buttocks. However, his teammates instead responded by covering their eyes and trying not to look.

* * *

"Dakota, I thought you said they went this way." Cody said with a frustrated sigh.

"They did! I swear! I saw them go this way!" Dakota responded, sitting down on a log. "My feet are tired!"

"Mine too." Cody sat down beside her. "Maybe we should just set up camp for the night, it's getting dark now and we've been walking for _hours_."

"Set up camp? _Here_? In the middle of the woods?" Dakota repeated, shocked.

"Well, this _is_ a wilderness survival challenge." Cody said. "Chris said that we've gotta spend a night in the woods."

* * *

"Gwen, are you going to help or not?" Heather demanded, her arms crossed as she stood over the other girl.

The goth girl, who'd been sketching in her lap, only looked up with a bored expression. "Not."

"And why not?" Heather asked loudly.

"Because I don't want to." Gwen said.

"Some kind of team spirit you've got there!" Heather said.

"Why don't _you_ help, instead-a nagging everyone else to?" Leshawna challenged, her hands on her hips and her eyebrows raised.

"I'm _team captain_." Heather retorted, flipping her hair.

"You are one pretentious little-" Leshawna started, before Geoff cut her off.

"Whoa, chill bras. Things are getting way too heavy. Just chill, the tent's almost ready anyway."

"Don't you worry your pretty little head, us menfolk can handle the tent." Duncan said to Heather. "Besides, you women have more important things to worry about – like figuring out what's for dinner. I'm starving."

"Oh drop dead." Heather snapped in response.

"That's a good point, eh." Ezekiel said with a nod.

"And why can't _you_ organize the food?" Leshawna challenged. "You didn't even help put up the tent – Geoff and I did the entire thing!"

"But you're the woman, eh-" Ezekiel began, before Leshawna turned to him, her hands on her hips.

"And just what are you implying, you scrawny little white boy?" Leshawna demanded. "That all women are good for are cooking and cleaning?"

Leshawna's up-in-your-face attitude made Zeke suddenly lose his nerve, and he shook his head. He backed away from her without another word.

"That's what I thought." Leshawna said.

"Hey guys, look what I found!" DJ called to his teammates as he emerged from the woods, holding a small, grey bunny in his arms.

"Well, I've never had rabbit stew before, but what the heck, I'm game." Duncan said.

DJ gasped. "This is my new pet! I'm calling him 'Bunny'."

"Awwww, he's super-duper cute!" Beth said, running up to DJ. "Can I pet him?"

"Sure." DJ agreed, and the brunette reached up to scratch the little grey bunny behind the ears.

"You couldn't find _any_ food?" Heather asked in irritation.

"We can always eat grubs and berries for dinner." Harold began. "Grubs are actually really high in protein and-"

"EW, gross! You can _not_ be serious!" Heather retorted, gagging.

Ezekiel walked to the treeline and lifted up a rock, bringing back a handful of wriggling, white grubs. He held out his hand to offer one to Heather. "They're actually pretty good, eh."

"You don't actually expect me to eat those, do you?" Heather asked, slapping his hand away and making grubs fly all over the place. "That's disgusting!"

Suddenly Lindsay began screaming at the top of her lungs. "It went down my shirt, it went down my shirt! Get it out, get it out!"

* * *

"Okay, fire's hot, fish are grilling, tent is tenting." Owen said, verbally checking off his mental checklist.

"Nice work, man." Trent praised him. "The fish looks awesome."

"I've gotta say, I'm impressed, Owen. You did a really good job tonight." Jo said with a nod.

"Really?" Owen asked, his eyes wide with having received praise from his most callous teammate.

"Indeed, I think we are all impressed by Owen's survival skills." Alejandro said.

"We're so lucky to have him on our team." Jo said.

Owen seemed to be sucking in the praise like a giant sponge. "And I owe it all to Grandpa!"

"So you and your grandpa really fought a bear once?" Zoey asked.

"Heck yes." Owen said. "It was the scariest day of my entire life." He began miming his actions as he told the story. "We were out in the woods when we came upon the great beast. I tell you, he was ten feet high if he was a foot! Then he roared his terrible roar! AAOOOWWRRRRRR! So we grabbed out shotgun – we knew it was either him or us. Was nothing personal, just the law of the wild! And BAM! One shot was all it took to fell the great beast. We took his blood and marked ourselves with it to honour him. It was a good death."

"That was a fascinating tale, Owen!" Alejandro said.

"Wow, we're so lucky to have someone so skilled on our team!" Jo said.

* * *

**Confessional**

"_Two may be able to play, my dear Jo, but only one can win." Alejandro told the confessional camera. "You can't best me at my own game."_

Static.

"_Would I normally be so nice to that great oaf, Owen? Of course not." Jo confessed. "But I can't just let Alejandro win his allegiance. Owen is the perfect alliance member – he's obedient and naive."_

* * *

"You shouldn't brag about having committed such horrible deeds, Owen." Dawn said with a frown, opening her silver-blue eyes wide. "Even if they aren't true."

"I forgot to warn you – Fluttershy doesn't like it if you talk about harming her little animal friends." Noah commented sarcastically.

Owen's eyes were wide. "H-how did you know it wasn't a true story?"

"Didn't you get the memo, big guy? She reads minds." Noah deadpanned.

"GREAT GALLOPING GUPPIES!" Owen exclaimed, his hands flying to cover his head as though that would help protect his brain from Dawn's invasive mind-reading.

"Try a tin-foil hat, it might be more effective." Noah suggested to Owen sarcastically.

"Just because _you_ are uncomfortable around me, does not justify you to treat me rudely and influence others to be uncomfortable as well." Dawn said, narrowing her eyes at Noah.

"You don't need _my_ help making others uncomfortable around you, honey." Noah said. "You do that well enough on your own."

* * *

"I can't believe we managed to find our campsite _without_ the map!" Mike said as he, Bridgette and Courtney worked on putting up their team's tent.

"That was like a total stroke of luck!" Sadie agreed with a nod.

"Yeah, like Scott knowing how to hunt." Izzy agreed, turning to her teammate. "Where did you learn to hunt with blunt objects like that?"

Scott studied the branch in his hands nonchalantly. "Oh, my Papi taught me."

"That was_ so _lucky." Izzy said. "We wouldn't have any supper without you!" Izzy said, staring longingly at the skinned creatures roasting on a makeshift spit above the fire pit.

"Speaking of supper, it should be ready by now." Courtney asked as she left Mike and Bridgette to put the finishing touches on the tent.

* * *

"DJ, Bunny is so cute. Can I hold him?" Beth pleaded. "Please? Please? Please? Please? Please? Please?"

DJ frowned for a moment, then nodded. "Okay, but be careful."

"Thank you!" Beth squealed as DJ handed the furry grey bundle to her. "I promise I'll be super-duper careful!"

"You know, this reminds me of this really scary story I heard once." Duncan said.

"Awesome!" Geoff said. "Tell it man!"

"Are you sure?" Duncan asked. "The story I'm thinking of is pretty hardcore."

"Oooh, we're _so_ scared." Heather said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you." Duncan said. "One night, a lot like this one. . ."

* * *

Bridgette shifted her position, trying to get comfortable. Then, deciding she couldn't hold it any longer, sat up.

"What's the matter? Did you hear something?" Cameron asked her in alarm.

"No, I've gotta pee." Bridgette said. "Like crazy, but I'm too scared to leave the tent."

"Oh." Cameron said, before holding up a jar of yellow liquid. "Me too."

She took a deep breath. "I've gotta be brave."

She rose and walked out of the tent, but was promptly ambushed by a bat, which got caught in her hair. Freaking out, Bridgette tried to dislodge the bat from her hair, but the silhouette she cast on the side of the tent made her teammates tremble with fear.

Then everything went up in flames. _Literally_. When she managed to get the bat out of her hair, she tripped over the fire pit and kicked an ember onto the tent, which burst into flames and then disintegrated almost instantly.

Shocked, Courtney stood up to survey the damage. Then, her eyes narrowed, she turned to Bridgette, her fists clenched angrily. "This is just great, Bridgette! Now we have nowhere to sleep!"

"It was an accident, I swear!" Bridgette said.

"Oh relax, bossy girl." Lightning said, rolling his eyes at Courtney.

"RELAX?!" Courtney screeched. "HOW CAN I RELAX? THINGS COULD NOT POSSIBLY GET-"

Mike put a hand over Courtney's mouth to stop her finishing that sentence. "Don't tempt fate. Or Chris."

"You're not going to banish me too, are you?" Bridgette asked fearfully as Courtney shoved Mike's hand away from her mouth.

"No, of course she's not." Mike said, rolling his eyes as he picked himself up off the ground and brushed himself off.

"And why shouldn't I?" Courtney challenged, turning to Mike, her hands on her hips.

"This is just ridiculous!" Mike responded. "Just because Brick was okay with it, doesn't mean everyone else is too!"

"Are you questioning my authority?"

"What authority? You're not team leader! We're supposed to make decisions as a group!"

"I am the only one with actual _C.I.T._ camping experience! You have to listen to me!"

Mike gasped. "Bossy young whippersnapper! Why, back in my day, there were no such things as C.I.T.s!"

"What is your issue?"

"My issue? You're the one with issues, little missy!"

"Little missy? _Little missy_?!" Courtney growled. "Just who do you think you are?"

"Relax, drama queen. Everything's going to be okay." Scott said, rolling his eyes. "I saw a cave on the way here. It'll take us two minutes to walk there."

* * *

"So suddenly, they heard this tap-tap-tapping on the side of the car. The girl started to freak out, and by this time even the guy was getting a bit scared, so he turned the car on and he stepped on it. When they got back to the girl's house, she opened the door and screamed, because there, hanging from the door was the bloody hook. They say that this killer is alive, wandering these very woods. He could be just about anywhere really, maybe even . . . HERE!" Duncan pulled out a prop hook, evoking screams of terror from several of his teammates.

DJ and Beth were both holding Bunny between them, Beth stroking his grey fur almost compulsively. Geoff's face appeared to be frozen in a grimace, while Lindsay was clutching Tyler. Leshawna, Harold and Heather were hiding behind DJ. Ezekiel had pulled his hat down over his eyes.

"That was so not funny!" Heather screeched as Duncan tried his very hardest to stop laughing at his terrified teammates.

"Oh yes it was. I just wish it was all on camera." Duncan said, faking a sudden realization. "Oh wait, it _is_!"

"Is that _really_ the best you've got?"

Duncan's laughter stopped instantly and he looked down at the goth who was drawing in her sketchbook, looking otherwise bored. "What's that pasty? Think you can do better?"

"I don't think, I know." She didn't even look up.

"You're on, then." Duncan said.

"If you insist." Gwen said, standing up and brushing the bits of grass and dust from her skirt. "Now that we're done with the fairytales. . ."

"Oh no, we do not need any more-" Heather began to protest.

Gwen cut her off. "Why's that Heather? You scared?"

Heather flipped her hair, her nose in the air. "No, of course not."

"Well then why are you complaining?" Gwen asked, narrowing her eyes, before she began her story. "So these three girls decide to go camping at Muskoka Campgrounds, near Camp Wawanakwa, actually. . ."

* * *

"Well, at least we have a roof over our heads." Courtney said with a sigh.

"Are you sure this is safe?" Cameron asked, his eyes wide as he looked around. "I mean the roof could cave in at any moment-"

"Oh my gosh, you're so right!" Sadie gasped, staring up at the stone ceiling above them with wide eyes.

"I highly doubt it'll cave in on us." Mike said reassured Cameron.

A little ways from the group, Scott was sitting on a rock, whittling by himself. Bridgette walked over and sat down beside him. "Hey."

"Hi." Scott greeted the girl, not looking up from his work.

Bridgette tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "I – uh – just wanted to thank you."

"For what?" He glanced up a moment, and raised an eyebrow at the girl.

"Well if it hadn't been for you, Courtney would have banished me."

"Don't mention it." Scott said with a shrug. "It's not like it's a big deal."

"But it is." Bridgette said, putting a hand on Scott's forearm. "It's a _really_ big deal."

"How so?"

"Well. . . I'm kind of . . . _terrified_ of the woods." she admitted, looking down at her sandals.

"Oh. Well, glad I could help then." Scott said, shrugging again and going back to his work.

Instead of taking the hint that she'd been dismissed, Bridgette remained. "So. . . what'cha making?"

"Haven't decided yet."

Suddenly Bridgette gasped and slid closer to Scott, subconsciously grabbing his arm again. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"I thought I heard something. . . like a growl. . from over there."

"I'm sure it was nothing."

"Yeah, I'm sure you're right." Bridgette said, blushing as she realized she was still cuddled up to Scott. Letting go of him as though his skin had burned her, she moved away, but still remained on the rock beside him. "Sorry."

"Don't mention it."

Bridgette stared down at her sandals as though they had suddenly become the most interesting thing in the world. After a few moments of awkward silence, she chanced a glance at her ginger-haired hero and she gasped. Her eyes grew wide. "Oh geez. . ."

"Man you're jumpy." Scott said, rolling his eyes in annoyance. "What is it now?"

"There's a bear." Bridgette said, slowly standing up and backing away from him. "There's a bear right behind you."

Scott didn't seem to think she was serious until he turned around to look for himself and saw that there actually _was_ a bear standing right behind him, glaring at them. It seemed that only Bridgette and Scott had noticed the bear. The creature changed that in one second flat when it opened it's massive jaws and bellowed at them.

The Thrashing Bears screamed at the top of their lungs and ran for their lives, pursued from the cave mouth by not one angry bear, but three.

* * *

"I think I got it!" Cody said triumphantly.

"Huh?" The blonde beside him asked, waking with a start.

"Here." he handed her back her phone. "Try making a phone call now. Chris figured out how to block the signal, so I boosted your reception - hopefully that counters what Chris did."

"You fixed it?!" Dakota squealed. "Oh thank you thank you thank you!"

"Don't thank me yet, I don't know if what I did actually worked. Try it out."

The blonde nodded and dialled a number, her fingers working at lightning speed on the touch screen keypad. She held it up to her ear and waited.

"Is it working?" Cody asked hopefully.

"Daddy?!" Dakota squealed into the phone. "It _is _you! Chris Mc-Lamo-pants blocked the signal and I haven't been able to contact anyone on the outside for _days_!" she paused as she listened to her father's response. She nodded. "Yeah, I'm so glad it's fixed now." Another pause. "Okay Daddy! Bye!" Then she turned to Cody. "OH THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!"

"You're welcome." Cody said. "Oh, hey, I had an idea-"

Dakota didn't let him finish his sentence – instead she did something that surprised the both of them. She threw her arms around him and gave him a kiss. On the lips.

* * *

**Confessional**

_Cody was grinning at the camera, his hands behind his head as he tried to act casual. "I knew it was only a matter of time before all the girls started to fall for me." He used his sleeve to wipe the remaining trace of Dakota's lipstick off his lips. "I get this problem all the time back home. All the ladies want a piece of the Codemeister."_

* * *

"Cody?" Dakota said, waving a hand in front of his stunned face.

At last, he shook his head and seem to regain consciousness. "Huh? Oh, hi Dakota."

"You were saying you had an idea?"

"An idea?" Cody repeated, before he blinked and nodded. "Oh, yeah! I was thinking I might be able to use your phone to hack into the camera feed and find out where our team is."

"Okay!"

After a moment, Cody spoke again. "Uh. . . I need your phone to do that."

Dakota's expression seemed hurt at first, then she sighed in irritation and gave up her phone.

* * *

"The fish _has_ to be ready _now_! I'm starving!" Owen whined, his eyes glazed over as he stared at the fish roasting over their campfire.

"It's worth the wait, trust me." Zoey assured him.

"Yes, I'm sure that Zoey's cooking will be superb, amigo." Alejandro said, making the redhead blush.

Dawn opened her eyes suddenly. "I sense danger."

"It was just a nightmare. Go back to sleep and all will be fine." Noah said.

Dawn seemed not to catch the mocking tone in his voice. "I wasn't sleeping. I was meditating."

"Well, it's nice of you to join us." Noah said sarcastically.

She stood up. "There is danger nearby, I can sense it."

"You're probably just sitting too close to the fire." Noah said, rolling his eyes.

A loud growl interrupted them, and Owen giggled. "Wow, I'm hungrier than I thought."

"I don't think that was you." Trent said, staring with wide eyes to the edge of the group.

The entire team was on their feet in seconds, staring in horror as the bear stepped closer to them, its nose twitching as it smelled the air.

"GREAT PYRAMID OF GIZA!" Owen exclaimed, taking off running around the group in panic. "WE'RE GOING TO GET EATEN ALIVE BY A BEAR! OH THE HORROR! I WANT MY MOMMY!"

On his third lap around his teammates, Jo became annoyed and when he passed her on the fourth, she tripped him. Owen went flying and did a faceplant, ending up with a mouthful of dirt.

"Quick! Into the trees!" Zoey cried out.

The aptly named _Screaming_ Gophers didn't need to be told twice.

* * *

"And one by one, they paid the price." Gwen told her teammates. "I heard that they never caught the murderer, and that after that night, people would venture out into the woods and _never_ be heard from again." She sat back down, picking up her sketchbook and tilting it towards the campfire for light.

"You call _that_ a scary story?" Duncan snorted, rolling his eyes. "

The goth looked up from her sketchbook momentarily and shrugged. "There was a rumour that they found some severed fingers near here a few weeks back – belonged to some guy from the city who went missing last winter. I mean, couldn't be the same killer, right?"

Most of the Killer Bass members had gone pale from fright – almost pale enough to rival Gwen's own pasty complexion.

* * *

"I – I think we lost it." Courtney panted, her hands on her thighs as she tried to catch her breath. "Is everyone accounted for?"

Mike did a quick head-count and then nodded. "Yeah."

"That was, like, the scariest thing that has ever happened to me." Sadie said. "We almost died."

"What are we going to do?" Bridgette asked. "Now we have nowhere to sleep."

"We'll have to sleep outside." Courtney said with an irritated sigh, giving Bridgette a look that made it clear that she still blamed the blonde for burning down their team's tent.

Mike shrugged and offered some optimism. "Well, at least the weather's nice."

And that's when it started pouring rain.

"Wonderful." Courtney said sarcastically, turning her face upwards to look at the sky, which flashed, divided, as lightning forked across it. Then she turned to speak to the team again. "If only we had a tent – we could be out of the rain!"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to burn down our team's tent!" Bridgette said. "If it's any consolation, I hit my ankle and burned my shoe when I tripped."

"How do we even know that you really did 'trip'?" Courtney demanded, her voice rising. "How do we know you didn't just sabotage us?"

Mike rolled his eyes. "Oh come on! You're being paranoid! Nobody on our team is trying to sabotage us!"

"Why are you defending her? Can't she defend herself?" Courtney sneered.

"Because she's my friend!" Mike argued. "And Bridgette wouldn't do something like that!"

"Or maybe because you're the one who sabotaged our team! Maybe you're protecting her because you actually feel guilty for her taking the fall for it, and this is how you're trying to make amends!" Courtney's voice had escalated to yelling now. "Maybe _you're_ the reason we keep losing challenges!"

* * *

**Confessional**

_Scott was whittling something, looking somewhat amused. "Wow, if I'd known that Courtney would be this easy to turn against the entire team with a little paranoia, I'd have saved planting the seeds of suspicion until later. What a drama queen."_

* * *

"I thought I heard raised voices." Came another male voice, attracting the attention of the Thrashing Bears team, who stared in shock.

"BRICK?!"

"You soldiers look like you need a roof over your heads. Care to join me? My place is plenty big enough for the whole team." Brick told them, beckoning them closer.

* * *

"What are you guys doing up there?" Dakota asked as she and Cody looked up into the tree at their teammates.

Cody looked bewildered. "It's raining, why aren't you guys in the tent?"

"Staying out of reach." Jo said.

"Of who?" Cody asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Or what." Zoey corrected him, pointing to a large mass inside the tent, which was illuminated by the campfire. "That."

"We think he smelled the fish Owen caught, and that attracted him to our campsite." Trent said.

"Well EXCUSE ME for living!" Owen cried out, smashing his head against the trunk of the tree.

"I didn't say it was your fault." Trent said. "Just that the fish smelled so good that the bear came to investigate."

"A bear?" Cody asked, his eyes wide. "Right, move over. We're coming up."

"But he's so cute!" Dakota exclaimed, peering into the tent. Her voice caused the brown mass to shift. Her teammates fell deathly silent. "I want one!"

"You probably won't when he wakes up." Trent said.

Trent's words were followed by a snarl from the ground. Dakota turned around to see a second bear having found their campsite. This one, angry and very awake, did not classify as 'cute' in Dakota's opinion. And her scream of terror did not help – a second awake and angry bear stuck its head out of the tent and roared.

"Chika, quickly! Climb up!" Alejandro prompted her.

"Dakota, grab my hand!" Cody urged the blonde, reaching out his hand from one of the lower branches.

She gasped as Cody pulled her to safety, and climbed up onto the bough beside Alejandro while Cody ended up beside Dawn – since nobody else seemed to want to sit beside her.

* * *

The sleepy brunette was just starting to nod off when she sneezed. Sitting cross-legged at the entrance of Brick's makeshift shelter, her elbows were resting on her knees her head in her hands. She stared out into the pouring rain, very tired but unable to sleep.

"Gesundheit." Came a soft male voice.

"Huh?" Courtney murmurer sleepily, raising her head and looking around to find Brick sitting down beside her.

"You sneezed. I said Gesundheit." Brick said softly, looking out into the rain.

"Oh." she said, covering her mouth as she yawned. "Thanks."

"Why don't you get some rest?" he asked her.

"I slept some but now I can't get back to sleep." she explained.

"Oh." he said, frowning as he stared out at the pouring rain. After a moment, he pointed to a spot on the horizon that was dotted with orange. "Look, the sun's rising."

"I love the sunrise." she said.

"Yeah, it's really pretty somedays." Brick agreed.

The two fell silent as they watched as the orange glow on the edge of the horizon grew, despite the rain. After a long pause, it was Courtney who finally broke the silence. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For banishing you from the team."

"You don't need to apologize."

"Yes I do." Courtney said. "If I hadn't banished you-"

Brick cut her off. "I forgive you."

"Thank you." Courtney said, yawning again.

"Get some sleep. You look like you need it – no offence."

"None taken." Courtney said as she laid down.

* * *

The Killer Bass had obviously had a bit of a rough night. DJ and Beth were both sitting with bunny, looking as though neither had slept all night. Heather was twitching in her sleep, and the entire team, save Duncan and Gwen, screamed in terror when Lindsay woke up, screaming blue murder.

"What's the matter with you?" Gwen asked, glaring at Lindsay, who blinked as she realized where she was.

"I – I had a nightmare." Lindsay said, trembling.

"Look! The sun's up!" Ezekiel announced, pointing to the sun, which was high in the sky. "We can go back to camp now, eh!"

"Yes!" Heather cheered, standing up quickly.

"What's the matter, Heather?" Gwen asked. "You're not _scared_, are you?"

"No, why would I be?" Heather said.

"Oh, I don't know." Gwen said with a shrug, before pulling Duncan's prop hook out from behind her back, evoking a scream from not only Heather, but several other Killer Bass members as well.

"You are so going down." Heather sneered.

* * *

"Brick, I don't know what we would have done without you." Bridgette said as the Thrashing Bears made their way back to camp. "You saved our entire team."

"Just from spending a night out in the rain."

"Still, we're lucky to have you on our team." Bridgette said, saluting the cadet.

Brick laughed. "Wrong side."

"Oh, oops." Bridgette said, saluting with her other hand instead.

* * *

"I think it's safe, guys." Trent said, stretching. "The bear's gone."

"And . . . so is the map." Zoey said, holding up the remains of the map, which had been soaked the night before during the storm.

"I don't know how Raccoons sleep in trees." Owen said, stretching. "They must be really limber."

"Come on, we need to get moving!" Jo said. "We have to get back to camp, pronto!"

"Follow me, comrades!" Alejandro said, motioning with his arm for his team to follow him.

* * *

"Welcome back Killer Bass!" Chris said, smirking. "Sleep well?"

"Like a baby." Gwen said with a half-smile. Heather tried to glare at her, but ended up yawning instead.

"We lost again!" Courtney shrieked as the Thrashing Bears arrived in camp.

"Not so fast." Chris said, shifting his attention to something behind the Bears. "Here come the Gophers now."

"We . . . we're not last?" Courtney repeated.

"Correctamundo!" Chris said.

"YES!" Courtney screamed as the Gophers finally joined the group.

"Gophers, I'll be seeing you losers tonight! One of your furry butts is going home!" Chris said. "Killer Bass, you're going on an all-expenses paid trip to the Tuck Shop!"

The Killer Bass cheered and ran to claim their prize, while the other two teams groaned at their losses, although the Bears were significantly less disappointed than the Gophers were.

* * *

"You've all cast your votes. The camper who does not receive a marshmallow must immediately walk the dock of shame, take the boat of losers and get the heck out of here. And you can't come back. _Ever_." Chris said. "I can see you're all tired so tonight I'll just throw them to you. Savvy?"

"Comrades, I wish you all the best of luck." Alejandro said to his teammates. "I am sorry that another one of us must leave the game tonight."

"Zoey, Trent, Ann Maria. Dakota. Cody, Justin. Noah, Dawn. Jo." Chris said, tossing a marshmallow into the hands of each named camper.

"This is the final marshmallow of the evening." Chris said, holding up the fluffy white treat.

Owen looked at Alejandro. "I'm sorry, Al! I didn't want to vote for you, but I did! I'm so sorry!"

Alejandro twitched when Owen called him 'Al', but nodded in what seemed like a sincere way. "I am sorry that it must end this way."

"How touching." Chris said, pretending to wipe away a tear, before chuckling to himself. "Alejandro."

"What?" Owen asked in confusion as Alejandro caught the last marshmallow.

His teammates, save for Jo and Alejandro, began a chorus of both farewells and apologies. Jo just glared at Alejandro, who had an innocent look on his face as he waved goodbye to Owen.

* * *

**Voting Confessionals**

"_Alejandro told me we needed to vote for Owen, so that's how I'm voting tonight." Ann Maria said. "Man, that Alejandro is one sexy hunk of man-candy."_

Static.

"_I didn't wanna vote for the big guy, he's so cool, but Alejandro assured me that it was the right thing to do." Zoey said. "I vote for Owen."_

Static.

"_I don't trust Alejandro." Noah said. "I mean, I don't trust Jo either, but I trust Alejandro guy could charm the slime off an eel."_

Static.

"_I'm sorry, Owen." Dawn said. "Your story glorified violence and the slaying of innocent wildlife, which is why I'm voting for you tonight."_

Static.

"_Owen's a great guy. I don't really understand why Alejandro asked me to vote him off. He's a great teammate." Trent said with a shrug. "Jo suggested I vote for Alejandro instead, but I don't know – he seems really nice too. I guess I vote for Alejandro."_

Static.

"_Owen." Dakota said. "Sorry big guy!"_

Static.

"_I vote for Alejandro." Cody said._

Static.

"_Sorry Owen, nothing personal." Justin said._

Static.

"_Everyone on my team is so great, I don't want to send anyone home!" Owen lamented. "But Jo said that we should vote for Al because he can't be trusted. I guess I vote for Al!"_

Static.

"_So I convinced Trent, Noah, Owen and Dawn to vote with me." Jo said. "Buh-bye Alejandro."_

Static.

"_Of course Jo thinks she has won this round, but she hasn't, I can assure you of that." Alejandro said with a smirk. "She told Dawn who to vote for. Dawn is the swingvote – I asked her who she was voting for and had my alliance vote with her. As long as I have Dawn on my side, Jo can say good-bye to her little alliance. I'll pick them off one-by-one."_

* * *

**Eliminated so far:**

37th: Katie

36th: Staci

35th: Sierra

34th: Sam

33rd: Eva

32nd: Owen

* * *

**Please review! :3**

**If anyone's interested in a Total Drama Island RPG, PM me and I'll link you.**


	8. Sphinx's Scavengers

**Okay, so I'm really sorry about taking so long to update this story. I've been working on it for ages, but I'll spare you the details of my life so we can get on with the story.**

**I don't own Total Drama.**

* * *

"**Sphinx's Scavengers"**

"Last time on Total Drama Island, our campers experienced the great outdoors!" Chris announced. "The Gophers were pretty divided – Dakota and Cody got separated from the rest of the team and almost spent the entire night in the woods _alone_ _together_. Meanwhile, Alejandro and Jo competed for the loyalty of the other Screaming Gophers. Gwen and Duncan scared the crap out of their teammates by telling some pretty gruesome horror stories – it was hilarious! Courtney banished Brick from the team, Bridgette burned down her team's tent and Scott got them all chased by bears. Then the bears – the animals, not the team – found the Screaming Gophers and they were forced to spend the night in a tree. So basically, nobody got much sleep last night. Who will get sent home tonight in the most dramatic campfire ceremony, _ever_?"

_**Cue theme song.**_

Trent was sitting on the front steps of the cabin playing a song he'd written for Gwen, who was blushing as he sang to her. Zoey sat with them, looking as though she was feeling pretty bittersweet about the whole thing.

"Trent, that song is so adorable." Zoey told him sadly.

Trent raised an eyebrow at her tone and Gwen nudged him, pointing at Mike. Zoey had been staring at the spiky-haired brunette throughout Trent's song. When he caught the redhead looking at him, he smiled and waved at her. She waved back before staring at the table as though the knots in the wood were the most interesting things she'd ever seen, her face flushing red.

Then the loudspeaker crackled to life and Chris's voice began to speak. "Attention campers, it's time for the next challenge. Come to the Mess Hall to find out what you have to do."

"Aww man, good luck in today's challenge." Trent said to Gwen.

"Yeah, you too. . ." Gwen answered. "Hey, I gotta get something from the cabin, you and Zoey run ahead – I'll catch up later, okay?"

"Okay." Trent and Zoey said in unison, nodding before they went to join their teams.

* * *

**Confessional**

"_Okay, so Zoey totally did me a favour when she hooked me up with Trent." Gwen said. "I'm kind of getting tired of watching her stare at that guy Mike. So I figure it's about time that I repaid the favour."_

* * *

"Hey – Bridgette? Can I ask you a question?"

"Hey Gwen. Sure thing. What's on your mind?"

"Are you going out with Mike?"

Bridgette's eyes grew wide with surprise. "No. We're just friends."

"Do you know if he is seeing anyone?"

"Not as far as I know. He's never mentioned a girlfriend before, so I'd say probably not."

"Awesome." Gwen said with a smile.

"Why do you ask?"

"Oh, I know someone who _really_ likes him."

"Really? And who might that be?"

"Oh. . . uh, I'm not sure she'd want me to say who. . ."

"I see."

"So, that's really great. I'd – uh – better catch up with my team. Talk to you later!" Gwen said, jogging off to meet up with her teammates.

* * *

**Confessional**

"_Step one, check." Gwen said, satisfied for a moment. Then she seemed to become hesitant. "Okay, so I totally hate meddling in other people's love lives, but I owe Zoey a hand with this." Gwen looked almost concerned for a moment, before she spoke again. "Zoey and Mike are going to be going out by the end of the week!"_

* * *

"What do you think today's challenge will be?" Bridgette asked as she sat down at her team's table beside Scott.

"No idea, but I think we're about to find out." the flame-haired boy responded drily.

"Oh. Right." Bridgette said, blushing.

"Good morning campers!" Chris greeted the teens as he walked through the doors and into the Mess Hall with Chef only a pace behind him. "Are you ready for today's challenge?"

"Do you even care either way?" Noah asked, raising an eyebrow at the host.

"Nope!" Chris answered with a wide smile. "This is gonna be a fun one."

"What? You bring the sharks back?" Scott asked with a frown.

"Close!" Chris said.

"You're bringing back the bears, aren't you?" Bridgette asked, her green eyes stretched wide with fear.

"With any luck – yes!" Chris answered with a broad smile "Today's challenge uses the entire island: the woods, the cliffs, the cabins – everything! This one's a camp favourite: a scavenger hunt!"

"Oh yippee." Noah said sarcastically.

"And what exactly will we be hunting?" Scott asked, raising an eyebrow at Chris.

"I'm glad you asked!" Chris said.

"You do realize this_ isn't_ an infomercial, right?" Gwen asked, raising her eyebrow at the host.

Chris frowned. "Alright, if everyone could just stop talking for a minute and let someone more important talk-"

"You got someone more important for the challenge?" Noah asked. "Where are they?"

"I was talking about me!" Chris said, glaring at the teens. "Okay, the next person who interrupts me is going to be automatically eliminated from the competition. Yeesh."

The teens went deathly silent.

"That's better." Chris said with a satisfied nod. "I have a riddle for each team. These riddles will lead you to a block in your team's colour, with a piece of your team's logo on it. Each block you find will have another riddle. There are four blocks hidden on the island, and you need to find all four to complete the challenge. Together, the blocks make your team's logo. The first team to put their mascot together wins immunity!"

Chris handed Mike, Noah and Leshawna each a piece of paper.

The three campers took the riddles to their respective teams before two of the three teams left the mess hall to start the search.

* * *

"_I'm square, plastic and dusty. I keep sharp things in my mouth, so you might want to watch __your hands. And just what is that fishy smell?_" Noah read from the piece of paper in his hands. The Bass had been the only team to remain in the mess hall after the clues had been given out to the teams.

Alejandro turned up his nose at the mention of a fishy smell. "Comrades, to where do you think our clue refers?

"This has to be a trap." Noah stated. "I mean, come on, this is too easy."

"What's the answer then, Brainiac?" Jo asked, raising her eyebrows at the bookworm.

"Our block is hidden inside a fishing box." Noah said in irritation, rolling his eyes.

"Where are we going to find a fishing box?" Dakota asked aloud.

"The docks?" Zoey suggested with a shrug.

"Or the boat house." Noah suggested.

* * *

"_I'm over but under, wet but dry, one of you may step on me tonight if you don't find me today. Wouldn't that be a shame?_" Leshawna read aloud to her team as the Gophers sat on the steps of their cabin.

"I wonder where it's hidden." Beth said, looking at Lindsay whose blue eyes seemed especially vacant that morning. "What do you think?"

The blonde blinked, before furrowing her brow, searching her brain for the answer, but coming up with nothing. She shrugged.

"I wonder if it's an anagram." Harold suggested.

"Oh my gosh, I love candy grams! They're just so sweet!" Lindsay said, clasping her hands together by her cheek. Then she turned to Beth. "Don't you just love candy grams?"

"Not a candy gram, an _ana_gram. It means the letters are all swapped around and stuff." Harold said, rolling his eyes. "Gosh."

"Hey, guys, what about the docks?" DJ suggested. "It could mean the Dock of Shame or something."

"Nice going, man!" Geoff said, giving the gentle giant a high-five. "Let's get it, man!"

* * *

"_You took a dive in challenge one, your next clue is hidden there. I'm not on the boat, and I __won't stay afloat, and please wring out your hair."_ Mike said, a bewildered expression on his face as he read the Bear's clue aloud. His team had decided to make the campfire their team meeting place.

"Obviously it has something to do with the first challenge." Courtney said, tapping her chin with the end of her pencil.

"Really?" Scott asked facetiously. "What was your first clue?"

Courtney frowned, but did not rise to the bait. "Taking a dive in challenge one – we probably have to go to the top of the cliff, where we all had to jump from."

"What is everyone waiting for? Let's sha-go!" Lightning said, jumping to his feet and taking off in the direction of the thousand foot cliff, pursued by his teammates.

* * *

Alejandro opened the door to the boat house and went to take a step inside, when he caught a whiff of half-rotted fish guts, and halted in place. Then, ever so smoothly, he turned to the side and gestured that Jo should walk ahead of him. "Ladies first."

Jo rolled her eyes and pushed past Alejandro into the cabin. She made a face but managed not to start retching when the foul odour infiltrated her nostrils.

"You're such a gentleman, Al." Zoey said, looking enamoured by the handsome young man's good manner, and failing to notice him twitch as she walked past him into the cabin.

"We're looking for a plastic fishing box." Noah said, stepping past Alejandro and into the boathouse. He put a hand over his nose in an attempt to ward off the stench. "Ugh, it smells like Owen's been in here."

"Yeah, we heard you the first time." Jo said.

Alejandro took a deep breath of fresh air and turned to follow Justin, the last of his teammates to enter the cabin, when Justin halted and made a sound like he was choking. Alejandro almost bumped into his teammate as the male model cried out about an assault on his nose, then sprinted out of the cabin.

"I'd, uh, best go check that Justin is alright." Alejandro volunteered, slipping out of the boathouse. Letting the door close behind him, he walked over to his teammate. "Amigo, are you alright?"

"Ah, fresh air!" Justin said, fanning himself with his hand as he drew in a deep breath. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Excellent." Alejandro said with a nod. "It would have been such a shame if one of our most valuable players had been unable to continue with the competition."

"Oh, I know!" Justin said with a nod.

"It's such a blessing that we have you on our team, it would have been most unfortunate if we were on opposing teams." Alejandro continued. "I'm not sure I would have stood much of a chance against you."

"Well, it's a good thing we're on the same team then, isn't it?" Justin said.

"Indeed. At least the girls on our team are safe from your good looks."

Justin frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well, if I were as handsome and God-like as you, I would use my looks to distract the girls on the other teams, so that our team would have the advantage."

Justin smiled. "Oh, _that._"

"I mean, I'm sure the girls on our team could be swayed to vote for whoever you wanted to vote off." Alejandro said. "I mean, aside from Jo."

"Why not Jo?" Justin asked.

"Haven't you heard? She thinks you're the 'second most unattractive guy she's ever met'." Alejandro said.

Justin gasped in horror.

"But I assure you, you have the envy of every man at this camp, for aside from Jo, every woman here swoons over you."

* * *

**Confessional**

"_Vanity and pride play off one another so nicely. Farewell, Jo." Alejandro said, blowing the confessional camera a kiss._

* * *

"Got it!" Zoey shouted, grabbing the green block and the attached scrap of paper and rushing outside, followed by her team. Once outside where the air was fresher, she read the next clue aloud. "_Go back to the location of challenge six, but be careful not to step on too many sticks. I'm sure your next clue is just hanging around._"

"That was the talent show, wasn't it?" Dakota said.

"Challenge six. . ." Cody said, counting off the challenges on his fingers. "No, challenge six was the last challenge – the night in the woods."

"Oh right. That's what I meant!" Dakota said, blushing.

"Then let's go!" Jo said, leading the team towards the forest.

* * *

"Wooo!" Tyler cried out as he jumped off the dock into the lake, before crying out when he tripped off the end of the dock and did a belly-flop.

"Wicked wipe-out, man!" Geoff cheered from the dock, before jumping in to join his buddy in the water, splashing an unhappy Gwen in the process.

"It's gotta be under the dock somewhere." Harold reasoned.

"I'll get it!" Tyler volunteered, making to dive under the dock, but not ducking low enough and instead smacking his forehead off the edge of the dock.

"Got'cha!" Geoff announced, withdrawing his hand from under the dock. "Man, that was so close! It almost fell into the water!"

"Good job! Where's that riddle?" Leshawna asked, holding out her hand for the block. Geoff, mistaking her outstretched hand as her offering a hand up, reached for her, but she only took the block and riddle, and he fell backwards off the dock and back into the water, on top of Tyler.

"What does it say?" Harold asked.

"_You'll find it if you can stand the smell, just remember this isn't a wishing well. And be careful not to flush your chances_." she said aloud.

"Haha, I bet our next block is in the toilet!" Tyler joked.

"Ew." Heather said, turning up her nose.

"Aw, man, that's gotta be it!" Geoff said, giving Tyler a high-five.

"Wow, it's a really good thing this team has so many guys on it, eh?" Ezekiel said, giving his teammates a thumbs-up.

"Why's that?" Beth asked with a smile.

"Because girls are much weaker players than guys, eh." Ezekiel said, causing his teammates to gasp in shock. "My dad told me to look out for all the girls here 'cause they can't take care of themselves."

"What did you just say, homeschool?" Leshawna demanded, her hands on her hips.

Ezekiel smiled at her and spoke more slowly. "I said guys are stronger and more physically fit than girls are, and that us guys need to look after the girls on our team, make sure they're okay."

"I'll show you looking after myself, you scrawny lil' white boy!" Leshawna said, balling her hands into fists and stalking up to Ezekiel.

"You _do_ realize this is the twenty-first century, right?" Gwen asked, an unamused glare on her pale face.

"Chill bras!" Geoff said, stepping between Ezekiel and a raging Leshawna. "At least he doesn't think guys are smarter than girls."

"But they are, eh." Ezekiel said. His next words were sympathetic. "It's not their faults they don't know, eh. Wouldn't expect 'em to know, 'cause they're not as smart as guys are."

"Oh, that's _it_!" Leshawna shoved Geoff out of the way and punched Ezekiel straight in the face, knocking him to the ground. Then, slapping her hands together as though brushing off dirt, she turned her back to him, grabbed the block and the clue and stalked off, followed by most of the team.

Harold stayed behind with Tyler, although the latter only remained because as he turned to walk away with the team, he'd walked straight into a wall and fallen backwards.

"You shouldn't have said that." Harold said to Ezekiel as he offered him a hand up.

"Why not, eh? It's true, isn't it?" Ezekiel asked, putting a hand to his eye, which was quickly bruising.

"Not really. Recent statistics have proven that males and females have equal intellectual potential." Harold said.

"And girls don't like being called dumb!" Tyler said, having picked himself off the ground and joined Harold and Ezekiel.

"I agree." Harold said with a nod. "And they definitely don't like being called stupid or weak. They're pretty ticked off right now."

Ezekiel frowned. "I don't wanna get voted off if we lose today, eh. Is there anything I can do to fix it?"

"You could try apologizing to them." Harold suggested with a shrug.

"But what if I say the wrong thing and make 'em even more mad at me?" Suddenly Ezekiel smiled. "Can you guys teach me?"

Harold frowned for a moment, then nodded. "I am kind of a Casanova. With my help, the girls will probably forget you even insulted them."

* * *

Searching the plateau at the top of the thousand foot cliff, Sadie frowned. They hadn't found their block yet, and Courtney was starting to panic that they were going to lose yet another challenge. And when Courtney started to panic, she cracked the whip on everyone else.

"B, can I ask you your opinion on something?" Sadie asked, looking up at her male best friend.

B nodded his head in response.

"Without Eva, our alliance isn't as strong. I think we need to add a third person."

B nodded and gave Sadie a thumbs-up.

"But who should we invite?" Sadie asked.

B tapped his lips with his index finger as though contemplating the answer, the shrugged.

Sadie put her hands on her hips and turned to survey her teammates. Then she brightened. "Oh, I know!" she said to B. "How about Cam?"

B didn't take very long to consider this idea before he nodded.

"Great! Let's ask him later tonight!"

B nodded.

"This is hopeless!" Courtney cried out, throwing her hands up in the air. Her teammates gathered around her. "We must have answered the riddle incorrectly, because clearly it's not up here."

"What does the clue say again?" Bridgette asked.

Mike read it aloud to the team once more. "_You took a dive in challenge one, your next clue is hidden there. I'm not on the boat, and I won't stay afloat, and please wring out your hair."_

Bridgette smacked herself in the forehead as she came to a realization. "We're in the right place, only a few thousand feet too high. Guys, the block is in the water."

"Oh." Chorused the entire Thrashing Bears team as the answer suddenly became clear to them.

Bridgette sighed and walked a few steps towards the edge of the cliff before turning back to her team. "So, who wants to go first?"

"Lightning always strikes first!" Lightning announced, sprinting to the edge of the cliff and diving into the water.

Izzy, who was next, crouched down and took a run at the edge of the cliff on all fours. The rest of the team followed, except for Courtney, who waited until the rest of her team had jumped before backing away from the edge and making her way down the trail to the bottom of the cliff.

Halfway down the trail, Courtney tripped and fell. Frowning, she got up and dusted herself off and turned to see what she'd tripped over. She saw something large, brown and furry. A paw. Eyes wide, she looked up to see the entire creature and found herself face-to-face with a massive Grizzly bear. She screamed and took off in the opposite direction of the bear – and of her team – and ran into the woods.

* * *

The Gophers had split up so they could fan out and cover more ground. The woods here were _huge_ and their block was hidden somewhere in them. She was starting to think they were never going to find it. But she had to be positive. They'd find it! Wouldn't they?

"Oh man!" Zoey said, halting, her brown eyes wide. There was a low bush in front of her, and she couldn't see any ground behind it. It was like the earth just ended on the other side of the bush. "I would _not_ want to fall down there."

And of course, it was then that Courtney came sprinting out of the woods, chased by an angry Grizzly bear, and collided with Zoey, accidentally sending them both over the ledge.

"Ooof!" The girls grunted as their bodies hit the ground. Fortunately, instead of plummeting to their deaths, the two had landed on another ledge. It was far enough that they were safe from the bear, which also meant that climbing back up the cliff would be a challenge.

"Are you okay?" Zoey asked as she sat up and dusted herself off.

"Uh-huh." Courtney nodded, looking up the edge of the cliff. "At least we're safe from the bear down here."

* * *

Scott was the one that found the next clue. It was his third dive, and he spotted the little flash of purple out of the corner of his eye. He swam to the bottom of the lake to get it, but instead of grabbing it so that his team could move on to the next part of the challenge, he tried to push it deeper into the small space between the sand and the rock under which it was wedged.

Finally, he had to take a breath and swam to the surface for a momentary breather.

Just as he was about to dive back down to finish the job, Bridgette broke the surface, holding the plastic bag with the purple block in it over her head. "I got it!"

"What?" Scott asked in alarm, turning to the surfer girl.

"I saw you found the block and were trying to get it free. It must have been _really_ stuck, but you loosened it enough that I managed to get it out!" Bridgette explained.

"Oh really?" Scott asked, but Bridgette missed the agitation in Scott's voice. "Wow, first you figure out the riddle, then you manage to get the block loose - you must be like our team's good luck charm."

"You think I'm good luck?" Bridgette asked, her cheeks flushing pink.

"Definitely." Scott said in a mildly sarcastic tone that Bridgette once again missed.

* * *

**Confessional**

_Bridgette sat in the confessional with her cheeks still bright red. "Oh my gosh. Scott said that I was our team's good luck charm. Scott thinks _I'm_ good luck."_

* * *

"You must be the strongest player on our team, maybe even in the entire game." Scott said to Bridgette with a fake smile as the Thrashing Bears team stepped onto the sandy shores of Camp Wawanakwa.

"You're just saying that!" Bridgette insisted, blushing anyway as she wrung out her ponytail.

"No, I mean it. It's a really good thing you're on our team. It'd be really tough to compete against you."

"Aww, you mean it?" Bridgette's face was starting to resemble a tomato.

"Of course." Scott said. "If you had an alliance, you could probably even make it to the finals. But if you're not – well, Courtney doesn't seem to like having competition."

"You think so?" Bridgette asked, seeming to be slightly alarmed by the implications of Scott's words. Then she glanced around at her teammates. "Hey – where is Courtney?"

"How should I know?" Scott shrugged as though he didn't really care. "And of course I mean it – you're probably the fiercest competitor here!"

"But what about you?"

"Oh come on, I couldn't get that block out and you could-"

"It was a team effort." Bridgette insisted. "Hey, we should team up and make an alliance – like you said!"

"Wow, that's such a good idea!" Scott said with false enthusiasm. "Why didn't I think of that?"

"Well, technically, you _did_." Bridgette said, batting her eyelashes at Scott.

"Well, I can't take all the credit for your great idea."

"It is a really great idea, isn't it?" Bridgette said enthusiastically. "And I bet Mike would team up with us! And maybe even Cam too!"

* * *

**Confessional**

"_Bridgette does realize that the entire team can't be in the alliance, right?" Scott asked the confessional camera. "Because we actually need to be able to vote people off when we lose challenges." He shrugged. "As soon as my little good luck charm ceases to be '_lucky'_, she's gone."_

* * *

"Ugh." Heather said in a tone of disgust. "Beth! Come here!"

The farmgirl appeared at the queen bee's side almost immediately. "Yes, Heather?" She asked eagerly.

"Reach into the toilet." Heather commanded her.

"Okay." Beth nodded, stepped forward, then grimaced. "Ew, are you sure?"

"Completely."

"Okay then." Beth got on her knees and stuck her arm into the opaque green-brown water in the toilet bowl. Heather gagged and had to turn away so that she wouldn't throw up. After a few moments of feeling around in the water, Beth cried out. "I got it!"

Her teammates appeared to find Beth holding up a ziploc bag with a cube in it, her arms covered in brown-green sludge up to the elbows. Her teammates cheered, but nobody would touch the bag that Beth held. In the end, Beth had to hold the bag open so that Geoff could reach in and pull out the clue, uncontaminated.

* * *

Of course their first clue had been easy – their second clue was impossible! Sure, it was easy enough to say that it was somewhere in the forest, likely hanging in a tree, but there were literally hundred, possibly even thousands of trees on that one tiny island, so the chances that they'd actually find the next clue were slim to none.

Aside from excess physical activity – which was most certainly _not_ Noah's preferred way to spend his time - his day had been fairly decent thus far. He hadn't been injured or anything. And his team actually seemed to appreciate his existence – for once.

Of course, all good days must come to an end, and so Noah's did when he tripped over a log as he walked into a clearing. He wasn't injured, and all would have been well, had his entrance into the clearing not startled a family of skunks.

Still laying on his stomach from when he'd tripped, Noah covered his face as all five skunks turned their backs to him and prepared to spray him with their noxious fumes.

"My children, this is no way to behave!" came the gentle, scolding tone of a familiar female contestant.

Noah risked a peek and saw – to his disbelief – Dawn, who he was certain had not been there a moment before, now crouched in the middle of the clearing with all five skunks winding around her lovingly. All five skunks were acting just like domesticated cats. As she lowered herself to a sitting position on the forest floor, she picked up one of the smaller skunks and gave it a cuddle.

"See? Noah's not going to hurt you." Dawn told the skunk, before looking to the Indian boy. "You can come and pet them now."

"I'd rather not, if it's all the same to you." Noah said as he got to his feet.

"Oh but you must." Dawn insisted. "They'll be ever so offended if you don't."

"But I'd rather not smell like a skunk-"

"You won't if they don't spray you. And they won't spray you so long as you don't offend them."

Noah rolled his eyes and walked over to the blond girl whose weirdness _continued_ to surprise him. Every time she did something strange, he thought she couldn't get any stranger. And yet, somehow, she always did. Squatting down beside the girl, he offered a hand to the nearest skunk, who brushed against his hand.

"There, I pet one. Can I go now?" Noah asked.

"Aww, ain't this sweet?" said another male voice as a third person entered the clearing. "Fairy Princess found _more_ weird pets. And with you, Bookworm, it's like a little family."

"Scott, you're upsetting them. Please stop using that tone." Dawn pleaded with the redheaded male.

He rolled his eyes. "Why should I? I've caught larger vermin than those rats before in my kitchen back home."

Dawn gasped in horror. "How could you say such a thing?! They're not vermin!"

"Oh dear, now you've done it." Noah deadpanned. "Now you're going to have to apologize."

"That's right! You come right here and apologize for upsetting my friends!" Dawn said in a tone that almost seemed authoritative.

"That was sarcasm, honey." Noah muttered to himself as he rolled his eyes at Dawn's absolutely absurd antics.

* * *

As the Killer Bass team moved away to search for their next clue, Lindsay finally arrived on the scene. When she saw Beth with brown-green sludge covering her forearms, she smiled. "Oh my gosh, you guys are doing facials?" She hurried over to Beth and scooped a handful of the sludge off of Beth's arms. "Silly, you don't put it on your arms, you put it on your _face_!" And then she proceeded to smear it on her face.

"Lindsay, that's not mud!" Beth told the blonde girl in alarm.

"Then what is it?" Lindsay asked, before sniffing the air. "Ew, what is that smell?"

* * *

If the skunks were on edge before, then a blood-curdling scream that could only have belonged to Lindsay was not going to help matters. And it certainly didn't. In fact, it made things much, _much_ worse. At the sound of the scream, the already-spooked skunks lifted their tails and sprayed noxious fumes on everyone in the small clearing, including their precious Dawn.

As Scott and Noah sprinted out of the clearing, coughing and choking on the stench of skunk-spray which was now clinging to their bodies, Dawn promised to visit the skunks again later, then took off after the two boys, calling out that her little friends hadn't meant to spray them.

* * *

"HELP! CAN ANYONE HEAR ME? HELP!" Courtney screamed at the top of her lungs, her hands cupped around her mouth as she looked up at the top of the ledge.

"I don't think anyone's nearby, Courtney." Zoey said with a sigh. She was sitting with her back against the steep wall of the cliff, and her knees drawn to her chest.

"We can't give up!" Courtney said with a frown, stepping back so that her voice might carry better to the top of the cliff. "HELP!"

"Be careful." Zoey cautioned her.

"I'm fine." Courtney said. "HELP!"

"Why don't you take a break and we can take turns yelling for help?"

"Okay." Courtney said, sighing and coming to sit beside Zoey against the wall of the cliff.

After a few moments, Zoey finally spoke. "So. . . how long do you think it'll be before someone finds us?"

"Not very long, I hope." Courtney said with a sigh.

* * *

"Find anything yet?" Cody called his teammate Dakota as he bent down to check inside a hollow log for their team's cube.

"Huh?" Dakota asked, hardly paying attention. "Oh, uh, no, I don't see anything."

Cody sighed as he straightened up. "I sure hope someone else on our team is having better luck than we are or we might never finish this challenge." Then something glinted through the trees. "Hey, what's that?"

"What's what?" Dakota asked.

"I saw something through those trees." Cody said, leading Dakota through a cluster of trees. When they came out on the other side, they found a clearing with Justin sitting in the middle of it, checking himself out in his handheld mirror. "Darn, I thought we finally had something." He approached the male model. "Hey Justin, how's the search going?"

"What search?" Justin asked.

"The search for our team's second cube." Cody answered, frowning.

"Oh, _that_. I haven't been looking. I have better things to do." Justin replied.

* * *

**Confessional**

"_Like what?" Cody asked the confessional camera, clearly frustrated by Justin's lack of participation. "But, I guess it's not my problem."_

* * *

"Aren't you concerned about getting voted off?" Cody asked.

"No. Should I be?" Justin asked, raising an eyebrow at Cody.

"I don't know – maybe. If the rest of the team saw you-"

"Are you threatening me?" Justin asked, frowning.

"No, of course not!" Cody said in earnest.

"Dakota?" Justin called, flashing the blonde his million dollar smile. "If you had to vote either me or Cody off, who would you vote for?"

"Huh? Dakota asked, shaking her head as though to break a trance. "Uh, I guess I'd vote for Jo."

Justin and Cody only exchanged a puzzled look.

* * *

"Mike! Guess what!" Bridgette called as she caught up with her friend.

"What's up Bridgette?" Mike asked his friend.

"Scott called me his good luck charm!" Bridgette gushed, positively beaming.

"Uh. . . congratulations." Mike paused for a moment. "I didn't know you had a crush on Scott."

"He's really great. He's sweet and charming and totally cute too!" Bridgette said, blushing. Then, she tucked a lock of blonde hair behind her ear and then her eyes went wide. "Oh! I almost forgot! Gwen likes you."

Mike halted and turned to face Bridgette, one eyebrow raised skeptically. "Where did you hear that?"

"From her."

"Wow, that's really . . . unexpected." Mike said after a moment, and the two began walking again.

"You two would be totally cute together!" Bridgette gushed.

"I didn't think Gwen was 'my type'. She doesn't seem into me at all – she seems really into that Trent guy, not me."

"Isn't Trent dating that redheaded girl - Zoey?"

"Oh, right, _Zoey_." Mike said, saying the name 'Zoey' with a tone of absolute disappointment. Then he frowned. "No, I'm pretty sure Gwen likes Trent – remember the talent show? Heather read Gwen's diary and she was gushing about some guy who can play the guitar."

"Yeah, but she also said the guy she likes is dating Zoey – maybe she's moved on."

"To me?"

"To you."

* * *

**Confessional**

_Mike looked both puzzled and skeptical as he sat in the confessional. "Well, I've never really thought of Gwen that way before, but I guess she's kind of cute." Mike scratched the back of his head. "And Bridgette wouldn't lie to me. So. . . I guess I should get to know Gwen better?"_

* * *

Jo was walking through the woods, searching the treetops for the next clue, desperate to be the one to find the next clue. Or at least, she needed Alejandro not to find it. She really couldn't have her biggest rival getting one-up on her. She had to find the cube, or at least someone on her side of the alliance had to find it.

And then, she saw it. Just as she'd expected it to be, it was hanging from a tree.

"Gotcha." Jo said in unison with a familiar male voice.

Eyes narrowed, Jo looked in front of herself to find herself nearly face-to-face with her arch-rival himself, Alejandro. One more step and they would have collided.

"Senorita, what a pleasure it is running into you here." Alejandro's smooth, charming voice said, earning a glare from the blonde jock as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"I thought I smelled a sleazeball." Jo growled, then she made a face. "Ugh, you smell worse than usual."

Alejandro seemed about ready to make a retort about his usual smell being wonderful when the stench hit his nose too. His hand flew to his nose to shield it from the smell. "What is that smell?!"

"I told you they didn't spray you on purpose!" Dawn hissed at Noah as the two walked into the clearing. "They were afraid! And they said they're sorry! They'll be very distressed if you don't forgive them!"

"They're _animals_, I really don't think they care if I accept their apologies or not." Noah rolled his eyes.

"But they do care, very much in fact-" Dawn was saying, but stopped mid-sentence when she saw Jo and Alejandro with disgusted looks on their faces, and halted.

"What happened to you two?" Jo asked, raising her hand to her nose to hold her nostrils closed against the awful smell. "You both stink."

"The animal whisperer here was playing with her pet skunks and well, I'm sure your sense of smell is strong enough for you to figure out what happened next." Noah deadpanned.

Alejandro made a sound like he was choking, before crying out in disgust. "I can _taste_ it!" Jo rolled her eyes as Alejandro staggered to the nearest tree, but did not stop holding her nose.

"Well, at least you're here, brainiac." Jo said, pointing up to the cube that was hanging from the tree above her head by a piece of twine. Alejandro backed away as Noah and Dawn approached the hanging cube.

"It's very high up." Dawn commented, before holding out a hand for a nearby bird. Bringing the bird closer to her face, she gently stoked its head. "Hello friend, would you mind-"

"No need for that." Jo told Dawn, picking Noah up by his shirt and tossing him into the air at the cube. She frowned at her teammate as he grabbed onto the cube. "You scream like a girl."

Noah clung to the cube. "So would you if someone randomly threw you at a tree!"

Looking at her hands disdainfully, Jo brought them to her nose. "Ugh, now my hands smell like skunk."

Noah grunted as he hit the ground in front of Jo. "You couldn't catch me too?"

"You already made my hands stink of skunk, I don't want to make it any worse."

"Of course." Noah muttered as he picked himself out of the dust, unfolding the riddle for their next cube. "At least this is an easy one. Follow me."

"What about the rest of the team?" Dawn reminded them.

"Oh, right, them." Jo rolled her eyes. "Why doesn't pretty boy go find them?" Then she frowned. "Actually, no, Alejandro can go with you two. I'll go find the rest of the team."

"Two heads are better than one, senorita, I will accompany you and we will find the rest of the team in half the time!" Alejandro insisted.

"Whatever." Noah said, rolling his eyes again. "Meet us at the beach."

And then he stamped off through the forest, followed by Dawn.

* * *

"Well that was an easy one." Sadie commented to Cameron as the team made their way away through the mess hall. Their second clue had been hidden in a bread box in Chef Hatchet's kitchen.

"Yeah, it was." Cameron said with a nod.

"Can I ask you something, Cam?"

"Sure! What's up?"

"Well, B and I were wondering if you would like to be part of our alliance." Sadie said in a half-whisper.

"Oh boy! Really?!" Cameron exclaimed, before he lowered his voice to a half-whisper as well. "I mean: oh boy! Really?"

"Yeah, definitely!" Sadie said with a nod.

"Sure! I'd love to be in an alliance with you and B!" Cam said with a nod. Then he glanced around and spoke once more at his normal volume. "Speaking of B, where is he?"

"That's a good question." Sadie said. "I should probably go find him. I'll catch up with you later, Cam!"

"Ok, bye!"

* * *

**Confessional**

_Cameron sat in the confessional looking so excited that he might wet himself. "My first alliance!"_

* * *

"Hey, did I hear you say you were looking for B?"

"Oh my gosh, what is that smell?!" Sadie exclaimed, covering her nose as she whirled to greet the newcomer.

"I got sprayed by a skunk." Scott answered, displeased.

"Ew, that really stinks."

Scott was not amused. "So, you said you were looking for B?"

"Oh, yeah. Have you seen him?"

"You know, as a matter of fact, I have. He went to check inside Chef's freezer for the clue, maybe he doesn't know we found it already?"

"Oh, maybe!" Sadie said, turning around and walking back into the mess hall.

* * *

**Confessional**

_Scott was whittling another spear out of a stick. "Hook, line and sinker."_

* * *

Sadie opened the door to Chef's massive freezer and stepped inside. B obviously wasn't there, and Sadie was just turning around to leave the freezer when the door slammed shut and she heard the lock click into place from the outside.

Scott, on the other side of the metal door, chuckled to himself. "Did I do that? Oops, my bad."

And then he walked out of the mess hall and rejoined the rest of the team, leaving Sadie screaming for help in the freezer where nobody could hear her.

* * *

"You'd think _someone_ would have found us by now." Courtney groaned. "Without my CIT training, my team is probably losing this challenge."

"My team probably hasn't even realized I'm missing." Zoey said with a sigh.

Courtney was silent for a few moments. "I'm sure that's not true. What about your boyfriend? Trent - is it? I bet he'll notice that you're missing."

"Boyfriend?! Trent?! Oh gosh no!" Zoey said. "No, we're just friends. Totally platonic."

"Oh."

"There is someone else though, he's so cute but I think he already has a girlfriend."

"Who?"

Zoey's cheeks were bright pink and her voice was hardly a whisper. "Mike."

"Mike? As in my teammate Mike?" Courtney asked, astounded.

Zoey nodded. "But I'm pretty sure we've only ever actually talked once, and that was on our first day here. Maybe if we'd ended up on the same team, things would have been different." she lamented. "You're so lucky."

Courtney was puzzled. "How so?"

"Well, you and Duncan -"

"_You_ think _I_ like that – that – _Neanderthal_?!" Courtney exclaimed, outraged.

Zoey flinched away from Courtney's temper. "I guess you guys just seem really into one another every time you two talk."

"Well, for the record, I cannot stand to even be in the same room as that – that – _delinquent freak_!"

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"Kind of a shame though. I think he really likes you."

"I would not stoop to such a level as to fall for the likes of _him_."

"Really? I think you two would have been really cute together."

Courtney fell silent.

* * *

"I found it! I found the last block!" Cameron cheered, holding it up in the air victoriously. Mike, who was nearby, began to cheer alongside him, and gave him a high-five. Cameron cried out at the sting of the high-five.

"_Aren't we lucky_." Scott said as the rest of the team, minus Sadie and Courtney, gathered around Cameron.

"Way to go Cam!" Bridgette cheered.

"Now we just gotta put them together!" Cameron said, and the team began their mad dash to victory. They arrived at the finish line within a few moments, only to find that the Gophers were already there and had already begun to assemble their puzzle. And with Noah putting the blocks together, it was taking even less time than it otherwise might have, which was none at all.

* * *

Their last clue was hidden in the mess hall, Harold was sure of it. His team had brushed him off and gone to search elsewhere, but he was sure the answer to the riddle was the mess hall, so here he was.

The intermittent sound of thumping caught his attention, and drew him into the kitchen to investigate. "Oh, that's rank." He commented to himself, wrinkling his nose at the stench before calling out. "Hello? Is anyone there?"

Suddenly the thumping became more like a panicked knock, and almost immediately a muffled female voice called out. "HELP! HELP!"

Harold walked towards the sound of the banging, and pulled opened the door to Chef's freezer. Sadie, shivering with cold, stumbled out of it. Her arms crossed over her chest, she did a bit of jogging on the spot, presumably to warm herself up.

"Sadie? Why were you in the freezer?" Harold asked, looking bewildered.

"I was looking for B, and the door shut behind me." Sadie said. "It must have locked, because I couldn't get out. I must have been in there for more than an hour!"

"Why was B in the freezer?"

"He wasn't. I only thought he was."

"Why did you think he was?"

"Because Scott said he thought he saw him go into the fridge to look for our clue." Sadie told him. Then she gasped. "Is the challenge over? Did my team win?"

And before Harold could answer, Sadie, her lips still blue from cold, sprinted from the mess hall towards the finish line.

* * *

"We won!" Jo began to cheer, giving Noah a high-five so hard that afterwards, he turned away to inspect his hand, which was stinging from the force of the five.

"THIS IS A DISGRACE! LIGHTNING NEVER LOSES!" cried out the Thrashing Bears member in outrage.

"We got second though. At least we don't have to vote anyone out tonight." Bridgette reassured her team as Cameron slotted the last piece of the puzzle into place.

"Ah-ah-ah." Chris tutted, smirking. "Your entire team has to be present for you to win."

"Please don't tell me you mean _them_." Alejandro asked, jabbing a thumb at Noah, Dawn and Scott, whose teams had forbidden them from coming any closer than twenty feet from the rest of them.

"No, they're fine. Phew, do you think _I_ want to smell their stink? They can stay where they are." Chris retorted. "Gophers, Bears, better figure out who you're missing and find them before the Bass get here or one of you will be sending someone home tonight!"

* * *

**Confessional**

"_A darned shame, too." Scott said sarcastically as he continued to whittle away at his spear._

* * *

"Zoey!" Trent cried out suddenly, looking around for his cherry-topped friend. "Where's Zoey?"

"DAMNIT!" Jo exclaimed, and Alejandro began to speak in Spanish. Quickly, they divided the team into two – a search party and a cube guard.

"I'm here! I'm here!" Sadie cried out, panting as she fell to her knees at the finish line, gasping for breath. She needed to start jogging again. All of Eva's training was going to come undone otherwise.

"Yes! We win!" Bridgette exclaimed, causing the Gophers to halt.

"Not so fast, campers." Chris taunted.

The Bears turned to one another and finally it was Brick who exclaimed "Courtney!"

They took off after the Gophers.

* * *

"Did you hear that?" Zoey asked suddenly, turning to Courtney with wide eyes.

"Hear what?" Courtney asked.

"That! There it was again! I can hear voices! Listen!" Zoey said.

The two fell silent, and after a moment, there it was again. It could have been a bird's call but then again it could have been their teammates, having finally realized they were missing. Scrambling to their feet, the two girls began screaming for help at the top of their lungs.

They were fortunate, and soon the search party found them. B, Cameron, Mike, Bridgette and Scott had finally found them. They were saved!

"Don't you worry your pretty little heads, sheilas, I'll save you." Mike announced in what sounded like an Australian accent. Then, he turned tail and marched towards the woods.

"Mike, where are you going?" Bridgette called, following her friend.

He turned to face her. "Let a man handle this one, sheila." And tapped her on the nose with his index finger. Then he tore vines from the nearest tree and bound one end to the nearest tree before pitching himself over the side of the cliff. Unfortunately, Scott _accidentally_ stepped on the vine, pressing it against a triangular stone. The vine snapped and sent Mike plummeting to Courtney and Zoey's cliff. His new hat floated down after him and landed on his head a few seconds after he'd crashed onto their small plateau.

"Oh my gosh! Mike!" Bridgette exclaimed, rushing to the edge of the cliff.

"He's okay!" Courtney called up to her as Zoey helped him to his feet.

"You sheilas will be alright." Mike told them both. "You don't have to be afraid anymore, there's a man here to save you."

"Actually, I'm not sure!" Courtney called up to the others. "I think he may have hit his head when he fell! He's not acting like himself!"

* * *

While the rest of the team was talking, B was thinking. He'd seen Scott step on the vine that could have sent Mike plummeting to his death. But he said nothing because B never spoke. Instead he simply frowned and set about his work, and before any of his teammates even noticed that he was not with them, he was almost finished his task anyway.

He walked to the edge and tossed the braided vines over the edge down to the three stranded teens. Then he walked back to the wheel he'd somehow managed to fashion, in the short time they'd not been paying attention to him. And then he began turning the wheel and one-by-one, pulled each of them to safety.

It was then that Zoey's teammates showed up, having been drawn to the area by all the commotion.

"Thanks for saving me!" Zoey said.

"Yeah, you were great!" Courtney agreed before both girls threw their arms around B.

"I hate to break up this sweet little moment, but Zoey? We're still doing a challenge." Jo reminded her.

"Oh right." Zoey said, before following her team back through the woods. Glancing back before she disappeared from sight, she called her thanks back to the boy once more.

Then it seemed to hit Courtney like a brick. "Guys! The challenge!"

And the team took off running through the woods towards camp.

* * *

"Congratulations Bass! You're the winners of today's challenge!" Chris announced as the remaining Gophers rejoined their team. "Gophers are second. Bears, I'll see you tonight at the campfire ceremony to find out who you're going to be sending home tonight."

"Lightning thinks you should all be going home for poor sportsmanship!" the athlete told his team before storming off.

As the teams made their way back to their cabins, Bridgette was chattering away to Scott, who didn't seem to be as put out by the team's loss as the rest of the team. And Bridgette seemed to have mixed feelings about the loss, which she described to Scott as being excited that they had an alliance, but disappointed that they were going to have to put it to use so soon.

Suddenly, a gust of wind took Mike's hat off and blew it into Cameron's hands. Mike turned to retrieve his hat, then gasped, no longer Manitoba Smith. "Hey Cam, why do you have my hat?"

"Mike, oh thank goodness!" Cameron exclaimed, earning a bewildered look from his teammate. "The team thinks you hit your head. You haven't exactly been _yourself_."

"Oh, uh. . ." Mike said, scratching the back of his head. "And d-do you-"

"I know the truth." Cameron said with a nod.

"Y-you're not going to tell anyone, are you?"

"No, but I might be able to help you control it." Cameron said. "I-if it's not out of line me offering to help."

"You can? That would be great, Cam!" Mike said. Then he seemed to remember something. "Oh Cam - Bridgette, Scott and I are going to make an alliance. You should be in it too."

"Oh, you want me to be in an alliance with you?" Cameron asked nervously.

* * *

**Confessional**

_Cameron sat in the confessional looking nervous. "I already said I'd be in an alliance with Sadie and B, but I just promised to help Mike with his MPD! What am I going to do?"_

* * *

"Oh, yeah, sure! That sounds, uh, great! Yeah, great!" Cameron said with a nervous nod that could have been easily mistaken for an excited one.

"Awesome! Let's catch up with Bridgette and Scott and see who we're voting for tonight!"

"Uh, actually, I will be right back!" Cameron said, turning around and hurrying over to Sadie and B, who were discussing something.

"Oh, hey Cam!" Sadie greeted him, while B waved. "Did you wanna discuss who we're going to vote for tonight?"

"Uh-" Cameron began, nervously, but at the hopeful look on Sadie's face, he folded. "Okay."

* * *

"We should vote for B." Scott suggested in a low voice to Bridgette as they sat on the steps with half of the team. Missing were Sadie, B, Courtney, Brick and Cameron.

Bridgette, who seemed to think she was the leader of the alliance, announced Scott's choice to the alliance. Mike frowned. "Why B?"

"Well, if it weren't for him, our team would have got second place!" Scott explained when Bridgette seemed at a loss for words. "He's the one that pulled Zoey up that cliff."

"What was he supposed to do? Leave her there?" Mike asked, still frowning.

Scott rolled his eyes. "Her own team could have saved her."

"But that's not fair."

"Mike, Scott's right. We should vote for B tonight." Bridgette said firmly.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Sadie asked as the remaining members of the team joined the others on the steps, leaving no more time to discuss who would be voted out that night.

"It's time to cast our votes." Courtney said with a disappointed sigh. At her words, the team rose and began to make their way towards the voting booth.

On the way, Mike caught up to Cameron, who was walking by himself. "Hey Cam? We're voting for B tonight."

"B?" Cameron squeaked in alarm.

"Yeah." Mike said, also sounding uncomfortable with the choice.

"You don't say." Cameron said, looking rather nervous.

* * *

"You're back at the campfire again tonight." Chris stated. "You've cast your votes. One of you will be leaving the island _forever_."

"Here you go." Chef arrived with a tray of marshmallows, which he handed to Chris before walking away.

Chris picked up a marshmallow and tossed it to the player whose name he called. "Scott. Izzy. Bridgette. Brick. Courtney. Mike. Cameron. Sadie."

It was down to two players. B glanced at Lightning, who didn't seem to have realized he was in the bottom two that night.

"Lightning, I'm sorry to tell you. . ." Chris began with an evil smirk. "But you're still in the game!"

"Sha-duh." Lightning said, catching his marshmallow as Sadie gasped.

"No! B!" Sadie cried out, starting to cry. "You can't be eliminated!"

"You voted out _B_?!" Courtney demanded, turning to her team with her hands on her hips, a look of disgust plastered on her face. "If anyone, he's the one who deserves to stay!"

"You can take his place if you like." Chris offered, but B held up his hand before Courtney could even refuse the offer. She shot an apologetic look at B.

"I can't believe you'd vote him out after he saved the day!" Courtney said finally.

"B, it's time to walk the Dock of Shame, take the Boat of Losers and leave the island _forever_." Chris said, prompting Courtney and Sadie to accompany B to the Dock of Shame.

"Thanks for saving me today." Courtney said sheepishly. "I'm sorry I was such a jerk to you before. You were just trying to help."

B gave the freckle-faced brunette a smile and a thumbs-up, letting her know that it was all good.

Courtney smiled at him, and thanked him once more before she backed off and made her way back to the beach.

"B, I'm gonna miss you!" Sadie told him, teary-eyed. "You'll always be my BMFFL!"

B pointed at her, then made a W with his fingers.

"W – I – N." Sadie said aloud as B signed to her. "4. K. E. B. Win for. . . K-Katie, E-Eva and B."

The boy smiled and gave her a thumbs-up.

Sadie burst out with a fresh round of tears, and wrapped her arms around B's shoulders, surprising the grey-eyed male with the tearful embrace, before declaring that she would indeed win for them. B patted her on the shoulder awkwardly, before having to push her away because Chef was making his way down the dock with a look that said he wasn't taking any prisoners.

Sadie sat on the dock waving to her friend as the boat drive him out of sight, crying as she had done when both Katie and Eva had been eliminated.

* * *

**The Votes**

"_B." Scott said simply._

Static.

"_Lightning was so mean earlier." Sadie told the confessional camera._

Static.

"_Sorry buddy. B." Mike said with a frown._

Static.

"_Lightning." Brick said. "He's not a team player."_

Static.

"_Scott's right. We have to vote for B." Bridgette said._

Static.

_B made the letter 'L' with his fingers._

Static.

"_B!" Izzy said, her face beet red as she stood on her head in the confessional._

Static.

"_I vote for Lightning." Courtney said with a shrug._

Static.

"_I think they should all go home. Lightning should be a team of one!" Lightning had his arms crossed. "B's gotta go, helping the other team win! The traitor!"_

Static.

_Cameron sat in the confessional, looking frazzled. "I-I don't know! I told Sadie I'd vote with her and B! But I told Mike I'd vote with his alliance! I don't know what to do!" He looked as though he was going to break down, when he suddenly had a flash of inspiration. "Oh, I know! I vote for myself!"_

* * *

**Eliminated so far:**

37th: Katie

36th: Staci

35th: Sierra

34th: Sam

33rd: Eva

32nd: Owen

31st: B

* * *

**So the Phobia Factor episode is coming up soon, but I've come across a problem: Brick is the only ROTI character with an explicitly stated fear. So, if you guys have any suggestions for characters' fears (especially Dawn's, I'm completely stumped with a fear for her), I'd love the help!**

**I've also started an accompaniment fanfic for Total Drama Island: Rewritten – it's called Total Drama Island: the Loser Chronicles. As you might be able to guess, it follow the eliminated characters' drama on to Playa Des Losers.**

**Please subscribe and review!**


	9. Flag Wars

**Another update! Woohoo!**

**This would have been up sooner if my life wasn't so crazy busy.**

**And I know you're all probably expecting the phobia factor challenge, but I'm still figuring out everyone's fears, so in the meantime, here's some drama. **

**I don't own Total Drama.**

* * *

**Flag Wars**

"Last time on Total Drama Island, the contestants participated in a fun and safe camp classic – a scavenger hunt! Courtney almost got eaten by a bear before she and Zoey fell off a cliff. They almost died – it was great!" Chris announced. "Dawn, Noah and Scott got sprayed by a family of skunks, and Lindsay tried out a _fragrant_ new face-mask formula. In the end, the Bears sent B home after a tearful departure of forgiveness and friendship. Who will get the boot tonight in the most dramatic campfire ceremony yet?"

_**Cue theme song.**_

Noah awoke to wood shavings hitting his face periodically, and when he opened his eyes, he found Scott sitting nearby him, whittling away at his spear. When the ginger-haired boy noticed that Noah was awake, he smirked. "Well good morning, _sunshine_."

"Do you have to do that?" Noah asked in irritation, brushing the shavings off his face as he sat up.

"You and the fairy princess sleep well?"

Noah rubbed his shoulder, which was sore from his having slept on a picnic bench all night. "I didn't, and I couldn't care less about her."

"So your little sleepover wasn't fun after all? What a shame."

Noah frowned in annoyance. "I hardly see how being banished from the cabins because we smell like skunk counts as a sleepover." Scott, who was still whittling, flicked another wood shaving onto Noah's shirt, making the boy's frown even more annoyed as he brushed it off. "Can I help you with something?"

"I don't know – can you?" Scott said with a smirk before he walked away without another word.

* * *

**Confessional**

"_What is that guy's problem?" Noah asked with a frown. "I have a feeling that it's got something to do with his precious 'fairy queen' or whatever it is that he calls her. And let me be the first to say, he's welcome to her and her stupid pet skunks."_

* * *

"Hi Sadie." Harold greeted the rival team member with a smile. "Are you feeling better today?"

She nodded and offered a half smile. "Yeah."

"Good thing you're warmer now. You could have caught hypothermia or something, being locked in that freezer for so long."

"That would have been, like, so bad."

"Yeah. Good thing I know how to treat people suffering from hypothermia."

"Wow, that's really lucky!" Sadie said. "You must be, like, really smart!"

"Yeah, I'm kind of like Albert Einstein if Albert Einstein were to be reincarnated." Harold said.

Sadie put her hands to her mouth to cover her giggle. Then, her giggling ceased as she seemed to come to a sudden realization. "I didn't thank you for letting me out of the freezer, did I?"

"No, you didn't."

"Well, thank you."

"Do any of you maggots feel like explaining why my entire kitchen stinks of skunk?" Chef Hatchet demanded as he walked into the mess hall. Sadie glanced at her teammates and saw Cameron waving to her to join the rest of the team at the table.

"It was really bad." Harold said with a nod as Sadie turned to join her team.

"What was?" Sadie asked, glancing back at the ruddy-haired geek.

"The skunk smell in the kitchen yesterday. It was rank in there when I let you out of the freezer. Didn't you notice?"

"No, actually."

"Well, you were probably too cold."

"Yeah." Sadie said with a nod before she joined her team at the table.

"Where are you going, Bridge?" Mike asked the freckle-faced blonde as she picked up a plate and turned towards the door of the mess hall.

"To give this to Scott. He can't sit with us while he stinks of skunk." Bridgette responded before she headed out.

Sadie brought a spoonful of food up to her lips and paused a moment. "Wow, there are a lot of skunks around here." She commented before Chef emerged from the kitchen once more, this time brandishing a massive knife.

"And would any of you care to explain why the inside of my refrigerator door is full of dents?"

Sadie gulped, her dark eyes wide as she regarded Chef Hatchet and the butcher's knife he wielded. "You know, on second thought, I'm not that hungry after all." And she fled the mess hall in the most non-suspicious speed-walk she could manage.

* * *

"Good morning campers! We've got lots of fun in store for you today!" Chris announced with an enthusiastic grin. The assembled teens looked nervous at the prospect of another challenge that Chris considered _fun_. "It's a camp classic – capture the flag!"

Chef handed three flags to each of the teams while Chris turned with a megaphone to make sure Noah, Dawn and Scott, all still outcast because of their skunky stench, could hear what he was saying.

"It's not too dangerous, is it?" DJ asked, looking down at the furry grey bundle in his arms. "I don't want Bunny to get hurt."

Chris frowned at DJ but otherwise ignored his words. "Each team has been given three flags. The first team to get three of another team's flags wins the challenge! Our interns were kind enough to gather a large pile of junk here for you to use as supplies. Build a fortress, make weapons – anything goes as long as you capture the other teams' flags!"

* * *

"Hey Gwen!" Mike called to the teal-and-black haired goth girl, waving her over to him.

Gwen, Zoey and Trent paused as they looked over at the brunette male. Trent glanced at Zoey who was trying not to stare at what she'd described earlier as Mike's _perfect hair_, and then at Gwen. "I didn't know you were friends with Mike."

Gwen herself looked perplexed. "I'm not. I should probably go and see what he wants though."

"Put in a good word for Zoey, will you?" Trent whispered to the goth as she passed.

"Planning on it." she said with a nod as she turned and began to make her way over to Mike.

* * *

**Confessional**

"_I guess Bridgette told him that someone here at camp has a crush on him." Gwen said with a shrug. "I suppose I should have expected that, but still. . . although I guess that makes my plan to help Zoey a little bit easier."_

* * *

"Hi Mike, how's it going?"

"Not bad. And you?"

"Fine thanks." Gwen said, scratching the back of her head. "So I guess Bridgette told you, huh?"

"Yeah." Mike nodded. He looked awkward for a moment, before speaking again. "So. . . how are you liking being on the island so far?"

"It sucks." Gwen answered with a shrug. "But some of the people I've met are alright."

"Well, that's good."

"If you're quite finished fraternizing with the enemy-" Heather began.

"I'm not, actually." Gwen snapped, causing Heather to walk off in a huff. Then she glanced back at Mike. "And then there's Heather. She's in a league all her own."

"Don't get along, huh?"

"Not in a million years." Gwen said. "I've never met such a bossy, superficial control freak in all my life."

"She sounds terrible."

"She is.

"It sucks that you're stuck on the same team as she is." Mike said, putting a hand on Gwen's shoulder as if to comfort her. They both glanced down at his hand as though surprised, then Mike tore his hand away as though Gwen's shoulder was suddenly on fire. "I should probably get back to my team. It was nice talking to you!"

"Okay, bye." Gwen said quietly as the other boy fled. Then with a shrug, she returned to her own team where Heather was seething and had apparently decided to take out her aggression on LeShawna, who looked as though she was about ready to return the favour by giving Heather a beat down. It wasn't until she had reunited with her own team that Gwen realized she'd forgotten to mention to Mike just how awesome and available Zoey was.

* * *

"Here, protect this." Jo commanded, one hand covering her nose and the other tossing a flag in their direction.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Noah asked with an unamused look at the blonde jock. "Knowing how athletic I am?"

"Don't worry. Nobody wants to come within ten feet of you two. You stink!"

"Gee thanks." Noah said, still not amused. "Hey, maybe you should give us each a flag and we'll stand at opposite ends of camp to protect them."

"No, you two need to stick together. Your stench is more potent when you're together." Jo said, before turning to leave the two of them once more. "Don't screw up!"

* * *

**Confessional**

_Noah looked even less impressed than usual, disproving all theories that such a feat was not possible. "Typical. I get stuck with Dawn _again_. I'd rather team up with _anyone_ but the skunk whisperer. Because of her, I had to sleep on a picnic table last night. Do you have any idea how uncomfortable that was? Ugh, this stinks - pun intended. Life, why do you hate me so?"_

* * *

"Are the teams ready?" Chris asked the teens, glancing from one to the other and grinning over the fact that none of the teams looked anywhere near prepared. Then in one breath, Chris made a quick announcement in one breath while Chef waved a checkered flag. "Great! _Readysetgo_!"

"Wait, what?" Tyler asked, standing up too quickly and hitting his head on the metal bar above him and knocking himself to the ground.

"AAAAARGH!" Jo screamed, charging at the Bass team's nearest flag.

Both Harold on the Killer Bass team and Cameron on the Thrashing Bears team seemed to have had the same idea and had both fashioned themselves armour out of the scrap, although Cameron's was much less makeshift than Harold's.

"I'll defend us!" Harold announced, charging forward with his broom handle as though hoping to hold off Jo from taking their team's flag. Unfortunately for Harold, his armour was not as effective as he'd hoped it would be, and after Jo aimed a punch at the geek's stomach, he dropped to the ground with a moan of agony.

"Oh my gosh! That looked like it really hurt!" Sadie cried out in alarm, ceasing her mad dash for the Bass's flag and glancing down at the ruddy-haired boy for a moment.

"It did." Harold managed to groan.

"Are you okay?" Sadie asked.

"Yeah, fine." Harold moaned as he rolled over.

"Oh, right! The challenge!" Sadie cried out, before resuming her mad dash for the same flag that Jo was going after.

Suddenly a George-of-the-Jungle-eque battle cry pierced the air and suddenly Izzy was soaring high above everyone's heads, clinging to a vine. "Izzy's gonna win it!"

"Dakota! Watch out!" Cody cried out, shoving the girl out of the way in desperation, only to end up with Izzy's foot planted firmly in his groin. The breath knocked out of him, Cody dropped to the ground with a high-pitched squeak. "Ow."

* * *

**Confessional**

"_Cody fixed my phone and now he saved me from Izzy. He's kind of like my knight in shiny armour." Dakota's arms were crossed over her chest as though she was cold. "And I get this weird mushy feeling inside whenever I'm around him."_

* * *

"Lindsay, Beth, do not let this flag out of your sight for one second! If you don't protect it from the other teams, I can't save you from being eliminated if we lose." Heather instructed.

"Got it!" Beth agreed with a nod, spraying saliva with each word. "What are you going to do?"

"Supervise." Heather said simply, taking a seat on a nearby suitcase to file her nails. Unfortunately the suitcase, which Heather had ordered Beth to drag from the junk pile for her to sit on, then fell open and unleashed a raccoon on the queen bee.

The bandit-masked animal hissed up at Heather, who screamed and fled when the animal began to pursue her, teeth chattering as though it wanted to take a bite out of Heather's leg. The raven-haired teen sprinted through the crowd pursued by the furry creature.

"So, like, what do we do now?" Lindsay asked, looking after Heather with a finger on her lips, her wide blue eyes as vacant as ever.

"Heather said protect the flag, so that's what we've gotta do." Beth told the blonde, flashing her a tin-and-tooth smile.

"Oh, right. I knew that!" Lindsay said with a nod. She glanced around. "Wait, where's the flag?"

Beth gasped as she whirled around, but then sighed with relief. "You sure scared me there, Linds! It's right here." Beth motioned towards the flag.

"Okay." Lindsay nodded.

* * *

**Confessional**

_Lindsay was sitting in the confessional looking extremely relieved. "I'm sure glad Belle showed me what our flag looked like! I totally didn't know what I was looking for before."_

* * *

"We are truly fortunate." Alejandro said aloud to his teammate Justin as he glanced around at the other teams, a smirk appearing on the faces at who they had arranged to guard their flags. "With so many girls guarding the flags, it would be very useful to have an attractive male model on our team."

"Yeah." Justin said with a nod, adjusting his sunglasses.

When Justin failed to get the hint, Alejandro rolled his eyes before continuing his charade. "Hold on comrade – aren't _you_ an attractive male model?"

"Yeah, I am." Justin nodded. It took a moment before Justin blinked in realization. "Oh, hey, maybe I should go distract the other teams and win us some flags."

"You have such a devious mind!" Alejandro feigned surprise. "I never would have thought of that!"

"I guess this team is just lucky to have me." Justin commented before making his way over to the Killer Bass team, where Beth and Lindsay were guarding one of their team's flags. Beth was sitting next to it while Lindsay was staring at the flag intently as though she expected it to get up and walk away on its own.

"Move it or lose it!" Lightning said as he sprinted past Justin, nearly bumping into him as he passed.

"No! Lightning! You missed the flag!" Courtney's shrill tone cut through the commotion, making Justin roll his eyes.

"Hi." Justin said, flashing a charming smile at Beth and Lindsay.

"Wow." Lindsay said, her wide eyes regarding Justin's toned chest, muscular shoulders, even tan and his pool blue eyes.

"Hi." Beth greeted the male, her face flushing bright red at the sight of him.

"You know, you're really cute." Justin said, although he said it in such an ambiguous way that either girl could believe it was directed at them.

"Oh my gosh!" Beth cried out suddenly, but her attention was no longer on Justin. Instead she leaped to her feet and dove in front of several other campers, crossing her arms over her chest as her body slid in the dirt.

"Are you okay?!" A male voice asked in alarm. The bulky male sprinted to the brunette's side. "Bunny!"

"He's okay." Beth assured him as she sat up, cradling the grey rabbit in her arms. "You were supposed to be watching him, DJ!"

"I was! He ran off the minute I took my eyes off of him!"

"He could have been hurt or killed! As it was he was nearly trampled!"

"Do you think I don't know that? I took my eyes off him for like a second and a half and when I looked back, he was gone!"

"Hey! That's my girlfriend, dude!" An outraged male voice exclaimed, drawing their attention back to their team's flag.

Justin looked at Tyler for a moment, then smiled at Lindsay. "Is this your boyfriend?"

The blonde turned to look at the doe-eyed jock, her brow furrowed. After a moment, she turned back to Justin. "I don't know. He doesn't really look familiar."

"The lady has spoken." Justin said, flashing Tyler a triumphant smirk.

"Oh my gosh, you think I'm a _lady_?" Lindsay swooned.

"Do you want to fight, dude?!" Tyler asked Justin, putting his fists up.

"No, that's okay, I've got what I wanted." Justin said, backing away from the Jock and his ditzy girlfriend. "She's all yours."

"Beth! Lindsay! Tyler! What are you doing?!" A harsh female voice made Beth, Lindsay and DJ cringe. "Don't just stand there like idiots! He's getting away with our flag!"

"Yes Heather!" Beth barked in response, handing Bunny to DJ. "Keep a closer eye on him this time!"

Then Heather's alliance sprinted after Justin.

* * *

"So I was thinking, if we're both still in the competition tomorrow, did you want to hang out?" Mike asked as he blocked Gwen from getting too close to the flag he'd been assigned to defend.

"Are you trying to distract me?" Gwen asked as she feigned left but instead went right.

"No. Am I distracting you?"

"No."

"Okay, good." Mike said, blocking another attempt to get the flag. "So how about it? Wanna hang out?"

"Yeah, sure." Gwen said finally, nodding.

"Great! Wanna meet up at the mess hall in the morning?"

"Yeah, okay. See you then." Gwen finally dodged Mike and lunged for the flag, only to have Mike grab her around the waist and foil her attempt.

"Hey!" Gwen protested as Mike picked her up and swung her back around so that he was once again between her and his team's flag.

"Not this time! Sorry – it's nothing personal, I promise!"

* * *

**Confessional**

"_So I look over and Mike is hugging Gwen! Hugging her! Mike and Gwen! I thought Gwen liked me! Not _Mike_!" Trent lamented to the confessional camera. "I guess he's just not that into Zoey." His green eyes grew wide. "Zoey! Oh man, she's going to be crushed! She's crazy about Mike! Probably as crazy about him as I am about Gwen!"_

* * *

"Good thing you're finally _pulling your weight_ on the team." Scott said, putting additional emphasis on the term 'pulling your weight' as though to indicate he was making a jab at the girl. He'd need to get rid of her next, he couldn't have her winning challenges for the team – it would ruin all of his plans.

She frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well it _was_ your fault we lost the last challenge." Scott said in a very matter-of-fact tone. "You and your _little_ friend B have just been deadweights holding the team back. Lucky for us that you're finally making an effort to help the team win now that he's gone. Maybe we should have voted him out a few challenges ago."

* * *

**Confessional**

"_That was so totally mean and uncalled for." Sadie said with a frown. "I so don't know what Bridgette sees in that guy."_

* * *

"F-Y-I, I got locked in Chef's freezer for like three whole hours!" Sadie retorted. "It totally wasn't _my_ fault!"

"And why were you even in the freezer in the first place?"

"Because I was looking for B!"

"Well then, I guess it's just lucky for you that he got eliminated instead of you." Scott said, before innocently adding. "Gee, how many of your friends have been eliminated so far?"

"What?"

"Haven't you noticed?" Scott asked, his voice dangerously innocent. "First Katie, then Eva, now B. You're the common element. Do you prey on the weak – or the strong - or something?"

"What?!" Sadie exclaimed, shocked. "You think I _wanted_ my friends to be eliminated?"

"Well it's an awfully weird coincidence isn't it? That everyone you touch gets eliminated? Who's next on your list?"

"I don't have a list! Katie and Eva and B were my friends! I wanted them to win this stupid competition if I didn't!"

"Then why is it that everyone you touch gets eliminated?" Before Sadie could answer, Scott turned on his heel and walked away.

Sadie looked down at the team flag in her hands, her voice barely a whisper. "It's not _my_ fault. . . is it?"

* * *

"I will defend the honour of my team!" Harold cried out, charging towards the Bears' team wielding a broom handle.

"I can't let you do that." Cameron said, stepping in front of Harold, also wearing makeshift armour. Although Cameron's armour looked like it would have done a lot more good than Harold's. Whereas Harold donned a cardboard and tin foil suit of armour and a tin foil helmet, Cameron had made more effective armour out of metal, including a breastplate from what looked like the shell of a toaster.

"You can't stop me." Harold said, making an attempt to sidestep the other armoured boy.

Cameron stuck out his arm as though he was a crossing guard asking someone to stop, and suddenly Harold found himself being dragged towards Cameron.

"It works! It works!" Cameron cheered.

"Are you controlling my mind?" Harold asked, shocked as he tried to flee Cameron.

"No! But I have magnets in my armour!"

Harold tore the tin foil off of his armour and flung it towards his opponent, but still felt his hips being dragged towards the other boy. "How is this happening? I'm not wearing anything magnetic!"

"I bet the button on your pants is attracted to my magnet!" Cameron said, almost gleeful that his invention was working so well.

"Wow, that must be a really powerful magnet to be able to drag me all the way over here by the button on my pants!"

As if on cue, the button from Harold's pants was suddenly torn from the fabric, and flew through the air and hit the magnet on Cameron's hand. Harold, now free from Cameron's magnetic pull, nearly fell backward, had it not been for a piece of scrap metal that flew across the battlefield and pinned Harold between it and Cameron's magnet, the force of the collision knocking both to the ground.

* * *

Half an hour later, Chef blew a whistle signifying the end of the game.

"Congratulations Bears for actually managing to not lose today's challenge!" Chris announced as the teens gathered before him, grinning as he observed the expressions of pain that most of the contestants wore. He was pleased by how violent some of the contestants had been in that day's challenge. Jo had probably been the most violent, although Izzy had hurt several other contestants in vine-swinging accidents that day. And Tyler had managed to injure himself when he'd taken a swing at Justin and missed. He'd done a faceplant and knocked himself unconscious. Beth had scrapes up her arms from rescuing Bunny. Both Cameron and Harold had been injured by the piece of scrap metal that his magnets had summoned, and it had been hilarious to watch the two trying to turn off the magnet.

As it turned out, being sandwiched between Cameron's metal suit and that piece of scrap metal had been the only thing holding Harold's pants up after Cameron's magnet had torn the button off his pants. The minute they'd been able to free themselves, Harold's pants had fallen down, earning him a hearty dose of humiliation from nearly everyone who had seen.

"Lucky break." Duncan snorted.

"You're just saying that because you lost." Courtney retorted in a holier-than-thou manner.

"Don't let one almost-win go to your head, princess." Duncan replied.

"I told you not to call me that."

"You like it."

"Hmph."

"Anyway, an I was saying:" Chris began again, shooting a warning look at Duncan and Courtney. "The Gophers win today's challenge for collecting the most flags. Bass, I'll see you tonight – you're back on the chopping block. Figure out who you're voting off and meet me at the campfire at dusk!"

* * *

"Hey Sadie! Do you want to hang out in the mess hall before the campfire ceremony tonight?"

"Oh, hi Harold." the raven-haired young woman said. She smiled at the ruddy-haired nerd at first, but then frowned and looked down at her own fiddling fingers. "I'm sorry Harold. I can't hang out with you."

"Oh, okay." Harold said, sounding disappointed. "Maybe another time then?"

"Can't. Not tomorrow."

"Well maybe the day after-"

"Harold, just because you saved me from the freezer doesn't make us friends." Sadie said more harshly than she'd meant to.

"Oh, okay."

Sadie winced at how disappointed the ruddy-haired nerd sounded now. "I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay. I get it." Harold said, turning and walking away from Sadie.

* * *

**Confessional**

"_Harold totally doesn't deserve to get voted off, so we can't be friends." Sadie told the confessional camera sadly. She sighed. "That's just the way it has to be. Otherwise my elimination curse will get him too, and he totally seems like a nice guy who should win."_

Static.

"_Well this is certainly an interesting turn of events." Heather said with a devious smirk._

* * *

"And if I don't vote with you?" Harold asked, irritated.

"I'll tell the entire team how you helped the Bears in the last challenge. And then they'll vote _you_ out instead."

"I guess I don't wanna go home yet." He sighed. "_Fine._ Whatever you say, Heather."

"Good. Now see that you remember our little deal."

"How could I forget?"

* * *

"Bass, I think you all remember the drill by now? Yes? Yes. Okay, good." Chris began. "Duncan, LeShawna, Gwen and DJ – you're all safe."

"You know it, baby!" LeShawna said as the four named contestants caught their marshmallows and went to the campfire.

"Geoff, Heather, Beth and Harold."

Four more campers joined their safe teammates to roast marshmallows over the campfire.

"Tyler."

"Yes!" Tyler cheered, sprinting to the host to grab his marshmallow.

"And the camper going home tonight is. . ."

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

"Why aren't there any marshmallows left, eh?" Zeke interrupted suddenly.

"Because you're both out of the contest!" Chris announced enthusiastically, grinning at both contestants like they were going to give him a million dollars.

"That's not fair, eh!"

"So? It's good for the ratings!"

"Oh! Oh! I'm not out! Hester, you can save me, right?" Lindsay said suddenly, her wide blue eyes seeking out the queen bee from her teammates.

Heather gave a derisive snort. "How? By taking your place? Not going to happen. And by the way, it's Heather."

"But. . . you said you could save me!"

"That was only if you protected the flag, which you didn't." Heather said with a tone of indifference.

"Geez, that's cold, eh."

"But I thought we were BFFs!" Lindsay said, her brow furrowed in confusion.

"Well _one_ of us should win the money, don't you think, _BFF_?" Heather said with a mocking sweetness to her tone, putting a sarcastic emphasis on the acronym when she called Lindsay her 'BFF'.

That seemed to satiate Lindsay though, who missed the sarcasm in the queen bee's tone, and instead simply smiled at the girl she thought was her friend. "Oh, yeah, I guess so."

"Hey! Let go of me, eh!" Ezekiel shouted suddenly, and the team found the home-schooled brunette being dragged towards Lindsay by Chef, who grabbed the blonde by the arm as he passed, then continued to drag the two teens to the dock of shame.

"Good luck BFF!" Lindsay shouted back at Heather once she stepped onto the boat. "I hope you win!"

"So do I!" Heather called back in an almost smug tone.

* * *

**The Votes**

"_Scrawny little white boy with his backwards view on women – Ezekiel's gotta go!" LeShawna declared._

Static.

"_Heather told me to vote for Ezekiel." Harold said with a frown. "But he's my friend. I wish I could just vote for Heather instead, but if she ever found out, she'd kill me."_

Static.

"_Lindsay. That girl doesn't have two brain cells to rub together." Gwen said._

Static.

"_I vote for Ethan." Lindsay said with a nod._

Static.

"_Lindsay, man. She let the other team just walk away with our flag!" Geoff said._

Static.

_Duncan was carving a skull into the confessional wall with his pocket knife. "Lindsay. She's hot but useless." _

Static.

"_Heather. That girl is mean with a capital M. She yelled at Beth when she was just taking care of Bunny! That's just cruel and unusual!" DJ said, before turning to the furry gray bundle in his arms. "Isn't that right, Bunny?"_

Static.

"_Lindsay, eh. She's not that smart, eh, and she lost us the challenge, eh." Ezekiel voted._

Static.

"_Ezekiel of course." Heather said, disinterested._

Static.

"_Heather said that if I don't vote for Ezekiel then the team would vote me out instead." Tyler said. "Too bad, I was just starting to like that guy. He was a cool dude even if he said some stuff that the chicks were definitely not digging."_

Static.

"_Heather said we have to vote for Ezekiel tonight, so I'm voting for Ezekiel." Beth nodded. "And he said some really mean things about girls the other day!"_

* * *

**Eliminated so far:**

36th: Katie

35th: Staci

34th: Sierra

33rd: Sam

32nd: Eva

31st: Owen

30th: Beverly

29th: Ezekiel & Lindsay

* * *

**Any and all reviews are greatly appreciated.**


	10. Phobia Factor

**I had a lot of inspiration for this chapter, so prepare for some drama!**

**Thanks to each and every person who has been favouriting, following and/or reviewing this story. I usually forget to put in a little note thanking you guys for your continued commentary and support.**

**Knifez: I'm really glad that you like the Trent/Gwen/Mike/Zoey love square, it was a random idea for a small side-plot that I ran with and now it's become a full-fledged focal plot. I hope you'll like my future plans for Noah and Dawn respectively, but I'm not giving any spoilers! And that is a very good point about the placings; I'll try to remember to fix that again if and when another double elimination takes place.**

**Acosta Perez Jose Ramiro: Thank you, my honey. -bows-**

**Guest: They are making a right mess of their love lives, aren't they? Let's hope that Bridgette wakes up to Scott's true intentions sooner rather than later, eh?**

**Shiny: There are a lot of people waiting for Scott with torches and pitchforks, both in- and out of- character – you're not alone. xD**

**I don't own Total Drama.**

* * *

"Last time on Total Drama Island, our contestants found themselves in a modified version of a summer camp classic – capture the flag! Jo took no prisoners in her quest for flags, Cameron and Harold went head-to-head in a clash of the geeks, and Izzy ensured that Cody may never have children! But physical injuries weren't the only hurt that was felt by our contestants! Trent thought Mike was getting a bit too cozy with his girlfriend Gwen, and Harold felt the resounding sting of rejection when he asked Sadie out. Okay, he didn't really ask her out, but I'm sure in a few more dorky steps, Harold and Sadie would have been going out – if she hadn't said no! And to top it all off, the elimination ceremony was killer – a surprise double elimination! What else will these teen freaks do for a hundred thousand dollars? Find out right now on _Total. Drama. Island!_"

_**Cue theme song.**_

"How long do I have to soak before I can leave?" Noah asked impatiently, looking up at Chef with his dark brown eyes.

"Until you don't stink anymore." Chef responded, a laundry peg protecting his _sensitive_ nose from the stench that the three teens currently carried. Chris and Chef had initially refused to let the three of them bathe in tomato juice after being sprayed by those skunks, but Chris had stopped finding their stench so amusing when he'd decided it had given the Gophers an edge in the capture the flag competition.

"Well how do I smell now?" Noah asked.

"What? Do you expect me to smell you?" Chef growled before he stalked out of the kitchen.

Noah sighed and slid deeper into the tub full of red-orange liquid, resting his head on the back of the wooden tub.

"You're anxious to leave." Scott observed from the tub next to Noah's. There was something about the ginger-haired teen that Noah just didn't trust. It was almost as though he was trying to draw information out of him or manipulate him. Noah thought that the rival team member was nearly as slimy as he suspected Alejandro was. "Got a hot date with someone?"

"Yes, actually, I do. Her name is Elizabeth Bennett, and she's a real firecracker." Noah commented. "Really witty and sharp tongued - she's just my type. My _dear_ friend Jane Austen set me up with her."

"BLONDIE!" A female voice interrupted their chat as a very tanned teenage girl appeared in the doorway. "We're gonna have words if you don't come get your skunks pronto!"

The two boys glanced over at the third person in the room, sitting quietly in the tub to Noah's right. She had been so quiet that they'd nearly forgotten that she was there. She'd been meditating the entire time she'd been soaking.

"Oh look, your little pets are looking for you." Noah quipped as he rolled his eyes, glad that he wasn't in the cabin.

"Just hit the little buggers with the biggest stick you can find." Scott suggested, rolling his eyes and taking a deep breath as though about to plunge into the depths of the tomato juice when he stopped suddenly.

"Where are my children?" Dawn asked, suddenly fully dried and dressed, now standing by Ann Maria's side.

"How-?" Noah and Scott asked in unison before both changed their minds about the question and shook their heads.

* * *

An ear-piercing scream alerted Dawn to the presence of her precious wildlife, although it was not coming from the cabin she'd expected it to. Ann Maria had said one of her skunks had hidden in Jo's gym bag, then placed itself between her and her hairspray.

It was then that the entire Thrashing Bear team spilled out of their cabin, gasping for breath and choking on the fumes.

"HOW ON EARTH DO YOU MISTAKE A SKUNK FOR A CAT?!" Courtney screamed at Lightning between gasping for breath in the fresh air. "SKUNKS HAVE A HUGE WHITE STRIPE DOWN THEIR BACKS!"

The Screaming Gophers had already evacuated their cabin, and only moments after Dawn's arrival, a skunk appeared in one of the dual doorways of each of the three cabins. Once they saw Dawn, they sprinted to her. Once she had calmed them, she took her 'children' to the edge of the woods to convince them to return to the forest. Unfortunately, the campers were not so lucky.

"I can't sleep in there! It smells _so_ bad!" Dakota exclaimed, changing her mind and halting in the doorway of the girls' side of the Gophers' cabin.

"Well this is just great!" Courtney cried out, outraged. "Now where are we supposed to sleep?!"

* * *

"I hope you all remember how you feel right now." Heather said coolly. "So that you all work harder next time so we don't end up here again!"

"Well then next time, maybe we should try letting people less susceptible to Justin's many, _many_ charms guard the flags." Gwen retorted, casting a dark look at Heather.

"I didn't realize someone could fantasize and threaten at the same time." Duncan said with a smirk.

"You've seen that boy, haven't you?" LeShawna said with a dreamy sigh. "I wouldn't mind a piece of that man candy myself."

"Focus, people!" Heather snapped. "You're supposed to be feeling bad about yourself right now!"

"Oh trust me, so long as you're on our team to remind us to, we will." Gwen retorted in her monotone voice.

"Permission to mingle!" Brick suddenly asked, drawing the Bass's attention to the other two teams who had just arrived at the campfire.

"And just what do you want?" Heather asked, her hands firmly planted on her hips as she regarded the newcomers.

"We wanted to know if you guys wanted to hang out. Put aside team rivalry and have a good ol' bonding session." Trent said, offering a smile.

"Oh, really?" Heather asked, raising an eyebrow at the other teens.

"Dawn's pet skunks stunk up the cabins and we need to give them time to air out." Courtney explained.

"How many times must I tell you all – they're not my pets! You should never take a wild animal from its natural habitat!" Dawn said, horrified by the use of the word 'pet' to describe her furry friends.

"Ok, _fine_. Dawn's skunk friends stunk up the cabins." Courtney said, rolling here eyes.

"Well I guess it sucks to be you guys then." Heather said, flipping her raven-coloured locks in her usual queen bee manner.

"They stunk up your cabin too." Zoey told the queen bee.

"You need to chill out queenie." LeShawna told Heather with a roll of her eyes before turning to the other contestants. "Of course you guys can join us."

"Thanks." The majority of the Bears and Gophers chorused as they joined their rivals around the campfire.

"Glad to see you made it through another campfire ceremony." Trent told Gwen with a smile as he and Zoey sat down next to her.

"Mind if I join you?" Mike asked. Zoey looked up at the brunette male with a smile on her face but it fell when she realized he wasn't talking to her, but Gwen.

"Yeah, sure." Gwen said with a shrug, glancing over at Zoey. Unfortunately, instead of sitting down beside Zoey like Gwen had hoped he would have, Mike sat on Gwen's other side.

Suddenly a blood-curdling shriek brought all the campers' attention to a single individual – DJ. "SNAKE!"

"DJ, it's okay. It's just one of the elastics from my braces." Beth said, bending down to pick it up.

The buff boy relaxed visibly. "Sorry for tripping - snakes just freak me out!"

"I feel you." Tyler said, putting a reassuring hand on DJ's shoulder. "Chickens give me the creeps, dude."

"You're afraid of chickens?" Gwen asked, unsure whether to sympathize or laugh.

Duncan chuckled. "Wow, that's really lame, man."

"Chickens _are_ kind of creepy." Zoey said with a shrug, shooting a friendly smile in Tyler's direction. "But it's the horses that really freak me out."

* * *

**Confessional**

_Gwen was sitting in the confessional, looking bored. "So suddenly everyone is having this big share-fest by the fire. Beth went on and on about how her mortal fear is being covered in bugs. Harold's afraid of ninjas. Even Heather admitted she's afraid of sumo wrestlers."_

* * *

"What's my worst fear?" Gwen asked, cocking her head to the side for a moment as she thought about her answer. "I guess being buried alive."

"Fur coats or anything else made from animals." Dawn said, choking up a little at the mere thought of such a horrific idea.

A now stench-free Noah rolled his eyes. "Electric eels."

Mike paused a moment before he shrugged. "I guess my _greatest_ fear would have to be. . . flying. That's some _crazy_ stuff right there."

"I would never go up in a plane." Izzy said, which was quite possibly the most normal and average thing she'd said since stepping foot on the island. Her hands clasped together in front of her chest, she looked genuinely terrified by just the thought of it. "Never."

"People with hairy backs." Ann Maria said, failing to suppress a shudder of revulsion. When everyone looked at her, she grimaced. "It's _so_ gross. I like my men nice and smooth."

"I'm scared of hail. It's small but deadly, dude." Geoff said.

"Not having my cell phone." Dakota said, clutching her pink flip phone to her chest. "I just couldn't cope with being cut off from everyone!"

"Being left alone in the woods." Bridgette confessed.

Scott shrugged. "Sharks, I guess."

"Bad haircuts." Sadie said.

"Oh, I change mine! That is _so_ much worse than not being able to communicate with anyone." Dakota said.

"Having to diffuse a time bomb under pressure." Cody said after a moment of thought.

"Spiders, man, all those eyes and legs just creep me right out." LeShawna said.

"Every time I see a spider, I scream." Cameron said, proving his point by shrieking suddenly as he saw a small spider crawling on the ground by Justin's foot.

"KILL IT! KILL IT!" LeShawna shrieked in terror, jumping to her feet.

Once the spider had been dealt with, Justin gave a dramatic sigh. "Being ugly."

"Oh don't you worry baby, you've got nothing to worry about." LeShawna assured the male model with a smile.

"Calculus, man! All those numbers! Scariest thing in the world!" Lightning said, shaking with fear.

"I must confess, I have a terribly weak stomach." Alejandro said, hanging his head in shame.

"For me, it's the dark." Brick confessed quietly.

"Isn't that a bit juvenile?" Jo asked with a snort of derision, making Brick's face turn red.

"Well what are you afraid of?" Mike asked, raising an eyebrow.

It was Jo's turn for her face to go red, and when it went red, it went _beet red_. "Oh fine." She rolled her eyes. "I'm afraid of girly dresses."

Lightning rolled his eyes. "You're not alone, man. Lightning thinks he speaks for all men when he say that fear of wearing a dress is in the top five."

Noah rolled his eyes. "I'm pretty sure you don't speak for _all_ men when you say that."

"What does that have to do with Jo though?" Bridgette asked, raising her eyebrow at the jock.

"It has everything to do with Joe! He's afraid of wearing dresses just like every other man that Lightning knows!"

The teens fell silent for a moment, glancing between Jo and Lightning. Finally Jo just shook her head. "Just let it go. I doubt he'd understand anyway."

"I'm not really afraid of anything." Courtney said.

"Balony!" Duncan protested with a fake cough.

"Oh really?" Courtney said, turning to the punk wit one hand on her hip. "And what exactly is _your_ phobia, Mr. Know-it-all?"

Duncan hesitated a moment as he looked around at his opponents before finally giving in. "Celine Dion music store standees." He managed to stutter out.

"Ex-squeeze me?" Cody asked with an amused chuckle, cupping his hand around his ear in the hopes that Duncan would repeat his words. "I didn't quite get that."

"Dude, did you just say Celine Dion music store standees?" Trent clarified.

"Celine Dion plays at my dad's hotels _all the time_." Dakota said. "We have _so many_ cardboard cut-outs of her in the basement of the hotels."

"So if we had a cardboard standee right now. . ." Courtney began, but Duncan cut her off.

His hands on his ears to block out the sound of her voice, Duncan looked distressed. "Shut up!" He cried out, before turning his attention to Trent. "What about you?"

"Okay, well I hate mimes. Like, a lot." Trent admitted. When Courtney rolled her eyes, the musician turned to her with raised eyebrows. "Okay Courtney, you're afraid of _something_. Spit it out."

"Nope, nothing!" the CIT insisted.

"Come on Courtney, we told you our fears." Trent said sternly.

The brunette sighed. "Okay, _fine_." She finally gave in. "I think the closest thing I have to a fear is. . . failure."

* * *

Zoey sat up, her hand flying to her mouth to cover a yawn as she blinked, taking in her surroundings. To her left, Courtney was snuggled up to Duncan, both still fast asleep and Zoey had been totally right - they were totally cute together.

"Awww." Zoey said as she looked at the couple. Courtney sighed contentedly and opened one eye sleepily, having been awoken by Zoey's 'aww'-ing at them. At first, Courtney's brain failed to register her surroundings. That is, they did until she was spoke to.

"Morning sunshine." Duncan greeted the brunette with a smirk, just having woken up himself.

Zoey couldn't help "Awww"-ing at the couple once more.

Courtney gasped in shock and pulled away from him. "Oh my gosh! _Ew_!" She jumped to her feet and pointed an accusing finger at the punk. "You were cuddling me!" Courtney turned to Zoey. "You saw that! _He_ was cuddling _me_!"

"I was calmly lying on my back, trying to catch a few z's. _You_ were snuggling up to _me_." Duncan responded casually, still smirking.

"You are such an ogre!" Courtney said, but Duncan wasn't phased in the slightest.

"Eh, I've been called worse." Duncan replied with a shrug.

"Ugh!" Was the only sound Courtney could respond with before she stormed off.

* * *

**Confessional**

"_Okay, I just want to say for the record that I was asleep and therefore unconscious at the time of the alleged cuddling with said neanderthal." Courtney insisted. "So essentially, it's like it never happened."_

* * *

"You two are so cute together." Zoey told Duncan with a small smile as Courtney stormed off.

"If only she'd just admit that she wants me." Duncan replied with a snort before rolling over, presumably to go back to sleep.

Zoey's smile was wiped off of her face less than five seconds after that, because she then glanced to her left and found Trent with his back to her, snuggling Gwen from one side while Mike snuggled with the teal-and-raven haired goth from the other.

Gwen was laying on her stomach and Zoey sincerely hoped that the goth was asleep and as such unaware of the fact that both Trent and Mike had an arm around her waist. Didn't Mike know that Gwen and Trent were totally into each other? They were pretty much dating - how could he possibly have missed that?

Or maybe he didn't care. Maybe he just wanted what he wanted and what he wanted was Gwen.

Her lip trembled as she got to her feet and fled the campsite, tripping on Bridgette's ankle as a teary-eyed Zoey navigated her way through the sleeping teens. Bridgette sat bolt upright in alarm as Zoey fell across Harold, Noah and Ann Maria, the latter who woke up wielding her can of hairspray like it was mace.

"Gosh!" Harold cried out while Noah groaned at having been woken up in such a manner, then promptly went into a hairspray-induced coughing fit. But Zoey didn't stop. She picked herself up off her teammate's legs and continued to run.

* * *

**Confessional**

"_How could I have been so stupid?" Zoey asked, pressing her palms against her eyelids as __though to try and stop herself from crying. "Mike's single but he doesn't like me at all - he's totally into Gwen! She already has Trent and Cody, it's not fair that she gets Mike too!"_

* * *

"What was her problem?" Harold asked, rolling his eyes, while Noah shrugged, waving his hand in front of his face to try and clear the hairspray-fouled air away from his face.

"I hope she's okay." Bridgette said as though she was thinking of going after the redhead, when she glanced back at her friend Scott beside her. Hey green eyes went wide and she frowned.

Suddenly Scott opened his eyes. "Good morning."

When Bridgette's response was an unusually hostile glare, he seemed to wake up a little more and glance around him. "Hold on. . . if you're not the one snuggling me. . . then who is?"

* * *

**Confessional**

_Scott looked rather pleased with himself. "What? Putting the cat amongst the pigeons is my specialty." He put his hands behind his head. "Why else would I get that obnoxious tub of lard to cuddle me?"_

* * *

Bridgette's glare softened slightly. "Sadie. Didn't you know?"

Scott face took on a look of horror. He spoke in a whisper to the surfer chick. "Oh man, you have got to help me get away from her before she wakes up."

"Why?" Bridgette whispered back, curious.

"Just help me get away from her and I'll tell you!"

"Okay, fine." Bridgette said, gently taking Sadie's arm and holding it up for Scott to crawl out from under. The ginger-haired boy looked immensely relieved by his new-found freedom.

"Let's get out of here before she wakes up!" Scott said urgently, grabbing Bridgette's hand and towing her out of the maze of sleeping teens.

* * *

**Confessional**

"_With Lindsay out of the competition, I need someone else for my alliance." Heather said, tapping her finger against her lips as she pondered which of her teammates she could convince to be a part of her alliance. "I might know just the right idiot."_

* * *

"I have a proposition for you."

"Don't worry, Heather, I voted for Ezekiel, just like you told me to." Harold assured the queen bee.

"That's why I'm here. Well, kind of, anyway." Heather said. "As you know, Lindsay also got voted out last night. She was in an alliance with Beth and I. You see, I have a plan to take me and two friends to the final three and Lindsay was our third person. The only thing is, my plan won't work with only two people - there has to be three."

"So you want me to be in an alliance with you?" Harold asked.

"Yes. Now understand that I do not make this offer lightly. If you're in the alliance, you're in the alliance - you can't pick and choose when you're in and when you're not."

"And if I don't want to be in your alliance?"

"I'll tell everyone about your little girlfriend, Sadie. And then you won't stand a chance of making it to the final three."

Harold sighed in defeat. "Alright, fine, I'll be in your alliance."

"Very good." Heather said with an approving nod. "I'll send Beth for you when you're needed."

And with that said, the queen bee whirled around and sauntered away.

* * *

**Confessional**

"_I really wish I could have said no to Heather. I don't want to be in her stupid alliance." Harold said. "But I don't want to get voted out. I really hate Heather's whole attitude. It's like - GOSH! - she acts like she owns everyone."_

* * *

Chris glanced around with a wide grin on his face as he surveyed the teens. Bridgette was glaring daggers at a bewildered Sadie, while Scott hid a grin. Trent kept shooting dirty looks in Mike's direction, and Zoey refused to speak to anyone. Tyler was picking at his food like he wasn't hungry while Heather stared thoughtfully at the Screaming Gopher's team while pretending to be listening to whatever it was that Beth was trying to tell her.

"What delightful tension!" Chris commented, before whistling loudly to get the teens' attention. "Campers! Your next challenge is a little game I like to call phobia factor! Prepare to face your worst fears!"

"Worse than this?" LeShawna asked with a grimace, holding up a forkful of the nasty breakfast that Chef had cooked them all.

"We're in trouble." Gwen said.

"First up we have Heather! Meet us in the theatre in five! You've got a date with the sumo!" Heather hardly looked bothered by Chris' announcement until the last word, which caused her to spit her mouthful of orange juice all over Duncan. That didn't stop Chris though as he continued on, enjoying every moment of the teens' suffering. "Noah – you, me, and a pool full of your favourite aquatic creatures!"

"Life, why do you hate me so?" Noah asked only half a second before his head hit the table with a thud.

"How did they know those were your worst fears?" Lightning asked, bewildered.

"Because we told them." Gwen lamented only moments before her forehead hit the table.

"Sha-Losers!" Lightning said, looking pleased with himself. "Lightning didn't tell them anything."

"Aren't you mortally afraid of calculus?" Harold asked, pushing his glasses higher up the bridge of his nose.

"Sshh!" Lightning responded, clamping a hand over the nerd's mouth. "Don't tell them!"

"Uh, Lightning?" Courtney asked, tapping the jock on the shoulder. "They're filming us twenty four hours a day, seven days a week; I'm pretty sure they heard when you told us last night at the campfire what your fear is."

Lightning released Harold with a look of disappointment. "Sha-_damn_."

"Chef Hatchet, didn't you have a _special order_ for our friend Tyler?" Chris asked, giving a wicked grin to his right hand man who was frying something.

Suddenly, Chef held out a tray with the crispy breaded skin of a Kentucky fried chicken that had been fried whole. Dawn gasped in horror because the chicken looked as though it had been breaded and fried _alive_.

"Don't worry, I doubt they fried it _alive_. They'd have animal rights groups all over them if they did." Noah commented absently to the moonchild whose face had turned a sickly shade of green. "It's probably just a rubber chicken."

It might have been alive and well once, but the beast within the breaded shell wasn't moving now though. Or at least, not until Tyler bit off the breaded crust covering the animal's head, and a live chicken's head popped out of the crust.

"Or maybe they just don't care what the activists are going to lose it over that." Noah said with a grimace.

Tyler screamed in terror and dropped the bread crumb-coated animal before he fled.

* * *

First up was Beth for the Bass. Chris lead the group of teens to a large blow up pool, but not just any blow up pool. It was filled with worms and arachnids and insects. This challenge immediately upset Dawn as well, and she flew to the side of the pool. "Don't do it Beth! You'll hurt them!"

"Back off weird girl." Heather commanded, grabbing Dawn by the shoulder and pulling her away from the pool. She turned expectantly to Beth. "Well, go on then."

"Chica, do not fret." Alejandro's smooth tones reached Dawn's ears as he took her hand and helped her to her feet.

Heather stood nearby, tapping her foot impatiently. "We're waiting."

Beth glanced at Dawn for a moment, but ultimately her loyalty to Heather and her team won out and with a shrug, the geeky farm girl slid in amongst the creepy crawlies. The other teens stared in horror as the brunette submerged among the writhing mass of small creatures.

Moments later she re-surfaced once more and Chris gave the Bass the first point of the game. "Beth sets the bar way up there!"

* * *

"Next up: our bad hair-cut gals!" Chris announced, taking two of the ugliest wigs he could have found and giving one to Sadie and the other to Dakota. "And remember, you can't take them off until sundown!"

Dakota and Sadie exchanged horrified glances, while Chris ushered them back out of the mess hall so that everyone would see their new 'dos. Then with a wicked smirk, the host made a sweeping motion towards the door of the mess hall.

"Introducing the ugliest member of our cast – Justin!"

"I don't think I can do this, Chris!" Justin called from within.

"Come on man, it can't be _that_ bad-" Trent called to his teammate before the entire cast gasped in shock and horror.

"Man can they work wonders with movie make-up." LeShawna commented after a long awkward silence.

"And our resident animal lover – Dawn!" Chris announced, and the moonchild appeared in the doorway of the mess hall dressed head-to-toe in furs. And much to Chris's delight, Dawn looked like she was having a positively awful time of it.

"Aren't you afraid that she'll overheat dressed like that in the middle of summer?" Noah asked.

"I'm willing to risk it." Chris said with a shrug before turning back to the door of the mess hall for the final time. "And now our grand finale – presenting the dainty, graceful, lovely, feminine, sweet, girly-"

"WE GET IT!" A very irritated Jo called from within the mess hall.

Chris chuckled sadistically. "-the beautiful Jo!"

"Sha-zam! Who is _that_?" Lightning asked, staring with wide eyes at Jo who was all dolled up. "Sha-_wow_."

"That's it – I'm done!" Jo announced, storming back into the mess hall to take off the skintight strapless red dress and put her tracksuit back on.

"Disappointing!" Chris said gleefully. "Are you sure?"

"Positive!" Jo shouted from the building.

"Eh, your funeral." Chris shrugged.

"Nice one, Lightning!" Courtney praised her teammate for his 'act'.

"Next on the list – Izzy and Mike!" Chris announced as he lead the campers to a plane that was obviously not up to code. "Chef will be taking you on an all-expenses paid deluxe flight around the island!"

The ginger-haired girl and brunette male boarded the plane without hassle, but both started screaming their heads off the moment the wheels left the ground, although that may have been caused by the fact that tape was peeling off of the wings, revealing huge cracks.

Chris laughed as Chef's passengers started shrieking in terror, but instead turned his attention to the rest of the cast. "Let's see, who's next? Ah yes, Scott! Right this way!"

The show's host lead the shrinking group of teens to a swimming pool. Upon closer inspection, the teens could see several sharks swimming in the water.

"You cannot be serious." Scott said drily.

"All you have to do is chill with the sharks for twenty whole minutes. Here, we've even got a snorkel for you." Chris handed the ginger-haired boy a snorkel before finding a second one and handing it to Noah. "That pool is the electric eel pool. Same deal: twenty minutes in the water and you're good to go."

"Oh yippee." Noah deadpanned as he approached the pool full of eels.

"You can do this." Bridgette said gently as she put a reassuring hand on Scott's shoulder. "But it's alright if you can't."

* * *

**Confessional**

"_What is Chris thinking?! Swimming with sharks without a shark cage? Scott could be killed!" Bridgette said, her eyes wide with alarm. "I've seen sharks eat surfers whole before – this is crazy!"_

* * *

"We'll be back in twenty minutes to make sure you're both still alive." Chris told the two boys.

"We're just going to LEAVE him here? With sharks?!" Bridgette cried out in alarm.

"Your concern for _me_ is heartwarming." Noah said to Bridgette sarcastically. "I'm only about to be electrocuted like five hundred times."

"Yes – isn't it great?! And thank you for volunteering to go next, Bridgette!" Chris said before leading the teens towards the forest.

"Oh crap." Bridgette muttered under her breath as they lead her to a log in the middle of the woods.

"Six hours alone in the woods – I hope you're ready!" Chris announced.

"So do I." Bridgette said in a horrified whisper as everyone abandoned her.

"Good luck. You can do this!" Courtney encouraged her teammate before running off to join the rest of the teens.

"Next on the list is Harold." Chris looked around and when he did not see the ruddy haired geek, he crossed his arms. "Does anyone know where he went?"

"Dude said he was going to the bathroom." Tyler told the host.

"Perfect!" Chris said gleefully before speaking into a walkie talkie. "He's in the communal bathrooms." With that said, he rubbed his hands together and selected his next victim. "Alright, so next up is Cody!"

"Oh crap." the techie said with a sigh as Chris lead them to the edge of the forest where several stinky garbage cans were rigged with wires and an alarm clock.

"Alright Cody, this stinkbomb is going to go off in exactly fifteen minutes. Everything you need to know to diffuse it is on these schematic blueprints." Chris handed the geek the blue papers.

"What? Are you crazy? I can't do this." Cody said, his hands in his hair.

"Then I suggest you find a safe place to hide, bra." Chris said, chuckling as he turned to leave the geek.

"Wait, you're not gonna stay to watch?" Cody asked.

"No way! That's a live bomb, dude!" And with that said, Chris lead the group of teens on to the next teen's challenge. This one was set back at the mess hall. A broad smile on his face, Chris handed a pack of paper each to Courtney and Lightning. "It's test time!"

"Aww man, Lightning thought this challenge was test enough!"

"You get to write a calculus test!" Chris told the athlete cheerfully.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Lightning cried out.

"Oh suck it up." Courtney said, rolling her eyes at the athlete before turning to the host with a smile. "Is that the same test I'm writing?"

"Nope! You get to do advanced theoretical physics, neuroscience and biochemistry!"

Courtney frowned. "That'll be a challenge, but I'm sure I can manage it."

"Oh, and I forgot to mention one teensy detail – I hope you speak German, Swahili and Mandarin because each section is written in a different language!" Chris said. "Your school said they'd even count it as extra credit for next semester!"

It was Duncan who caught Courtney as she fainted.

"Come on Princess." the punk said, gently patting the brunette's cheek until she came to. When her onyx eyes fluttered open again, Duncan flashed her his charming smile. "Come on Princess, you've got a test to write."

"Isn't fear a wonderful thing?" Chris asked, pleased with himself as he continued on to the next location: the beach. He locked Gwen into a clear box so that she could watch herself being buried alive – that had been his idea.

"Don't worry, you've got enough air in here for an entire hour – you only need to do ten minutes." Trent reassured his girlfriend. "As soon as you're done, I'll dig you straight up."

"Hey, Casanova, maybe you could try helping our team win instead of our opponents?" Jo suggested, shooting a warning look at the lovestruck musician.

"I'll do it." Geoff volunteered, accepting the walkie-talkie that Trent offered him. He sat cross-legged by Gwen's timer and held the walkie talkie up to his mouth as the others made their way to the next challenge. "Hey Betty."

"Geoff? Where's Trent?" Gwen's voice sounded distressed coming through the walkie talkie.

"His team needed him for something so you get to chill with me."

"Great." Gwen said, annoyance now replacing the fear in her monotone voice.

* * *

"One whole h-hour?" Brick repeated, fear making his voice crack.

"Yep! And the best thing is that it'll be pitch black the entire time!" Chris said gleefully as Brick walked into the room. Chris slammed the door behind him before leading the teens on to the next phobia challenge. But not before Brick ran screaming from the room, the front of his pants damp from where he'd wet himself.

"He is enjoying this way too much." Trent commented to Zoey, and frowned when her response was an almost-hostile grunt. "Oh, hey, Zo, what's the matter?"

"What? Haven't you noticed?" Zoey snapped, turning away from her friend so he wouldn't see her lip tremble. Then she turned back to him. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have spoken to you like that – it was rude."

"What's up? You can tell me."

"Mike. And Gwen. That's what."

"Oh, _that_."

"It's not fair." Zoey said, and Trent nodded in agreement but was otherwise silent. Trailing at the back of the pack, the redhead suddenly turned to her friend. "Trent?"

"Yes?"

"I'm pretty, right?"

"What?"

"Do you think I'm pretty?"

"Uh – yes, of course! You're really pretty, Zoey!"

"Am I as pretty as Gwen?"

"Uh. . . definitely."

"Then why is it that guys are lining up to be with Gwen and nobody is even looking at me?" Before he could answer, she crossed her arms and turned her back to him. "I'm not desperate – I've just never had a boyfriend before and I thought that maybe here . . ."

Trent was silent as Zoey trailed off, unsure what to say. "You still like Mike, right?"

Zoey nodded mutely.

"Well maybe you should just try talking to him." Trent suggested. "Try telling him how you feel."

"I can't do that! He's totally into Gwen! Just because I want a boyfriend doesn't mean I want to be someone's second best."

"I guess you're right. You deserve someone who's totally crazy about you – you definitely don't deserve to be someone's second best." Trent sighed. "Mike is still an issue though. I just wish he'd stop trying to steal my girlfriend."

"Oh, there you are!" An intern said, sighing in relief. "You guys better hurry up – it's Zoey's turn to face her fear!"

The redhead paled immediately, and Trent took hold of her arm, in case she fainted. "Come on Zo, it's your turn. You can do this."

"You don't understand – when I was a kid, I went to this carnival and they were doing pony rides. Something scared the one I was on and it went ballistic. I fell off and it nearly trampled me. I haven't been able to go anywhere near a horse ever since."

"Hey, the carnival scared me too. My mom took me to one when I was little to see the elephants – I was stoked. I was so busy watching them that I lost her for a minute. I called out but when I turned, all I could see was this horrible white face with black lips pretending to be me. I screamed and tried to run, but every time I turned around, he was there doing this creepy run and scream routine."

"Mimes are pretty creepy." Zoey replied.

* * *

"IT IS THE SMALLEST SNAKE EVER DJ, JUST PET IT ALREADY!" Heather commanded, earning scornful looks from her teammates. She shrugged carelessly.

"Well that was disappointing." Chris said as DJ swallowed his fear and held the snake. "There weren't even any tears."

"It's not slimy like I thought it was gonna be." DJ said as he put the snake back in its terrarium.

"Next up we'll be having a one-on-one battle between Heather and our friend the sumo!" Chris announced.

"Damnit!" Heather said with an annoyed sigh.

"That's karma for you." Duncan said with a sweet smile.

"Oh shove it." Heather said, flipping her hair and walking down the bleachers and up onto the stage. By the time she saw the sumo, her entire body was trembling. When the sumo wrestler charged her, she squatted down to protect herself and accidentally tripped the sumo, causing him to fall off the stage and therefore winning the match.

"And that's another point for the Killer Bass. So it's four points Bass so far. Lets see if any of our Gophers or Bears can get some points, otherwise they'll both have to send someone home tonight!" Chris said as he glanced over at the plane that was now descending from the skies. "Looks like Mike and Izzy are back – that's two points for the Bears!"

"Woo! Way to go team!" Cameron and Sadie cheered as the duo escaped the plane and frantically began kissing the ground.

"Ah, Chef, glad you're back!" Chris greeted his co-host with a smile. "Speaking of backs, it's time for Ann Maria to shave yours!"

"Alright." Chef shrugged before taking off his shirt.

"You'll need this." Chris said, handing a razor to Ann Maria. "Don't miss a spot."

"You can do this chica." Alejandro encouraged her, glancing around at his teammates. They were behind in the challenge. Jo had backed out within the first five minutes, Zoey was still curled up in the fetal position, refusing to get any closer to the horse that Chris wanted her to ride, and Trent had ceased trying to encourage his red-headed friend the minute he'd seen the mime.

Ann Maria gagged but stepped up to the plate with as brave a face as she could muster. Unfortunately, her almost-composure dissolved completely the minute she started shaving Chef's back, and she had to turn away. She tried shaving him with her eyes closed, but that didn't help either.

"I don't get paid enough for this." Chef growled as Ann Maria threw up all over his back.

"Wow, Gophers, you guys really suck." Chris announced cheerfully.

There was a huge _BANG!_ suddenly, causing the campers to look around in alarm. A few of them even asked: "What was that?!"

"If I had to guess, I'd say that Cody just failed to complete his challenge." Chris said gleefully.

"HELP!" Trent screamed as he ran by, pursued by the mime.

"Just talk to him dude! Ask him to go away!" Chris told the musician through a megaphone before he looked at Chef again. "Chef, didn't you have a special treat for Alejandro?"

"Señor, ten misericordia de mí!" Alejandro cried out before stopping forward towards the plate of sludge that Chef was offering him. Taking the bowl, Alejandro nearly threw up just from the sight. There was long stringy red tissues that looked like the intestines of a small animal like a frog or a mouse. There were grey and brown hairs throughout the mixture, and several bits of shiny pink-brown skin that looked like earthworms. And to top it all off, it looked as though an entire bowl of clear, round, slimy things with black dots in their centres had been dumped on top like chocolate sauce on a Sunday.

Alejandro grabbed the spoon from the bowl and took his first bite.

"Do you like the crunch?" Chris asked Alejandro with a grin. "We had some leftover shells from the Escargot that we had last night and figured you'd appreciate us saving them for you."

Miraculously, Alejandro managed to keep it down. Well, at least until Dawn gasped in horror. "Chris, _please_ tell me that those aren't _real_ frogs' eggs! You're an evil, evil man!"

And then there was no stopping Alejandro.

* * *

**Confessional**

"_Idiotas incompetentes, todos ellos!" Alejandro spat before throwing up again._

* * *

"Let's see how our friends are doing." Chris said gleefully, leading the teens back to the pools where they had abandoned Noah and Scott.

Scott pulled himself out of the pool, grinning. "Welcome back. How has the challenge been going?"

"Bzzzt!" Noah buzzed, having been shocked again as he waded towards the ladder out of the pool. "Bzzzt! Bzzzt!"

"Congratulations Noah, on earning your team's first point!" Chris said. "And that's another point for the Bears! That makes it three points each for the Bass and the Bears, and one point for the Gophers."

"So has nobody else gone yet?" Noah asked, looking at his team and frowning when several members of the team looked absolutely ashamed of themselves. "You're kidding me. How many people have gone aside from me?"

"Five, if you don't include people like Dakota and I, who are still working on their challenges." Dawn told him.

"So you're telling me that I didn't need to get shocked like a hundred different times by electric eels?" Noah asked his team, snatching a dry towel from the side of the pool. "You might have told me that we weren't participating in this challenge. Now, if you losers will excuse me, I'm going to go back to the cabins and read. Hopefully I'll even be able to forget that horrific experience."

"Well if we're going to lose anyway, then I'm not wearing this monstrosity for the rest of the day." Dawn decided, taking off the fur had Chris had given her. "I'm going to put my wonderful animal-friendly clothes back on."

And with that, she stormed off after Noah.

Suddenly, a hysterically shrieking Bridgette appeared from the forest and sprinted across the campsite to Scott's side. Bridgette threw her arms around Scott's neck and buried her face in his shoulder. "Th-the . . . woods . . . are so . . . scary." She told him between gasps for air.

"Its okay, you're safe now." Scott soothed the blonde, although his voice was aloof and careless.

"No point for the Bears from Bridgette, then." Chris commented.

"I DID IT!" Trent cheered, jogging to meet up with Chris' group again. He was dripping wet from head to toe as though he'd jumped in the lake. "I told that freaky mime to buzz off!"

"Congratulations! Your team gets another point! Good thing too, because you guys are way behind!"

"If we're losing, then I may as well wash off this horrific movie make-up and stop looking like an ogre." Justin said.

"Not so fast!" Chris said as Justin and Dakota turned to leave. "If you guys can get the last three members of your team to finish their challenge, I'll give you double points."

"That's not fair!" Heather cried out, crossing her arms over her chest.

"We accept your deal." Alejandro said, flashing Chris his most charming smile.

* * *

**Confessional**

"_Let's see how you like this, Alejandro." Heather said with a smirk._

* * *

"Even though your makeup is terrible, _I_ remember the gorgeous hunk underneath it all." Heather purred, running her fingers up Justin's arm.

"You know, you're completely right." Justin said with a smile.

"And just think – at sunset, all that makeup comes off and you'll be back to your _perfect_ self again."

"I definitely will."

"Trying to thrown the Gophers off their game I see, Heather." Alejandro said, frowning as he observed how close Heather was to the male model.

"Oh, I would never do such a thing to _Justin_. He's too perfect to distract." Heather sounded positively dreamy.

"She's right you know."

"We have a challenge to complete!" Alejandro snapped, grabbing Justin by the wrist and towing him away.

"Hey, be careful with those wrists! I have a modelling contract for them!" Justin insisted. "I can't have red marks!"

"Cameron, LeShawna, it's your turn!" Chris announced with a smile as Chef walked up behind the duo dressed in a massive spider suit. He tapped LeShawna on the shoulder, who seemed to consider facing her fear at first. She took a few steps back before realizing she couldn't do it, instead turning with a shriek and fleeing him. Cameron took one look at the man in the spider suit and screamed like a girl for a moment before kicking Chef in the knee, downing the massive man.

"That was unexpected." Chris said with a chuckle. "One more point for the Bears."

"Yay!" Cameron cheered for a moment before seeing the murderous look in Chef's eye. At the sight of it, he fled, screaming.

* * *

**Confessional**

"_On the plus side, my arachnophobia has been cured!" Cameron said gleefully, before his cheer faded and he looked around nervously. "Except now I'm terrified of Chef."_

* * *

"Whoa, that's pretty wicked, dude!" Trent said, observing Geoff sprinting around the beach, pursued by a small black cloud that was pelting him with hail. He glanced over Chris' shoulder at the console in his hands. "Can you make the cloud go lower and pelt him harder?"

"You are one sick dude." Chris said. "But yeah."

"That's awesome." Trent said as Geoff screamed in terror, before tapping his chin with a single finger. "Do you ever feel like you've forgotten something?

"Sometimes. I usually ignore it and the feeling goes away." Chris said before he chuckled. "Watch this! I'm going to bury him in hail!"

"Bury? Right!" Trent exclaimed, turning to the party guy. "Hey Geoff! Do you know where Gwen went?"

"Aw crap!" Geoff cried out before continuing to scream in terror. "I forgot to dig her up, dude!"

"YOU WHAT?!" Trent screamed, outraged. But instead of confronting Geoff about it, the musician sprinted to the part of the beach where his girlfriend was buried and grabbed the walkie talkie. "Gwen! I'm here! I'm digging you up right now!"

* * *

"Wow, I think this is the first time I've seen a grown man cry and it isn't my fault." Jo commented, almost amused by the fact that Lightning was curled up in the fetal position near his calculus lesson.

Courtney was still slaving away at her test, although it was apparent that she'd been crying at some point as well.

"Time's up!" Chris said gleefully, yanking the page away from Courtney mid-sentence, causing her pencil to make a long line across the page, crossing out the remaining questions. He took a glance at the page, then chuckled. "Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! You were supposed to answer the German questions in Japanese, the Swahili questions in Arabic and the Mandarin questions in Latin! Since you clearly didn't read the instructions, this gets you an automatic fail!"

Courtney began sobbing hysterically.

"Since Lightning did not complete his test, only Courtney earns a point for her team. That leaves the Bass and the Bears all tied up with five points each, and the Gophers trailing behind with a lousy two points." Then the host walked out of the mess hall with a grin on his face. "Next challenger!"

* * *

As the teens watched Tyler tremble as he sat, curled in the fetal position in the middle of a pen filled with chickens, Scott approached his teammate Sadie, who stood a little ways away from the others. "Wow, that hair looks really awful on you."

Sadie frowned. "That was a totally mean thing to say."

"Although I suppose it's no worse than your usual hair."

Sadie gasped in shock. "You're so totally mean! Why would you say something like that?"

"Eh." Scott shrugged, before turning the conversation on a new topic. "You really should have said yes to Harold when he asked you out."

"He didn't ask me out! He just wanted to be friends!" Sadie exclaimed.

Scott didn't appear to be listening. "I mean, it's not like you could do any better. You'd be pretty lucky to even get a loser like Harold."

"Harold is totally not a loser!" Sadie shouted.

"How cute." Scott said in a tone of disgust.

"He let me out of the freezer when I got locked in!" Sadie told him angrily before gasping. "It was YOU!" She pointed an accusing finger at Scott. "YOU locked me in the freezer! That's why the whole kitchen stunk of skunk!"

Scott gave a slow, sarcastic clap. "Oh, how very _clever _of you. It's a wonder you have any friends at all – if I were as stupid as you, I would be too stupid to make friends."

"Well I totally have way more friends than you'll ever have! Nobody wants to be friends with a total meanie!"

"You know, your friends probably don't even need you. Katie and Eva and B – they're probably having a party right now without you. They're probably celebrating being free from you for such a long time."

"Katie and Eva and B would so not do that to me. I've known Katie like my entire life, and Eva is so not a backstabbing jerk like you. And B is totally sweet and would never do that either."

"I'll bet Katie and Eva are total BFFs already – when you get home, they'll both have forgotten who you are. Good riddance to bad garbage, they'll say."

"Katie and Eva and B would so not do that to me!"

"Well, we'll know who's right soon enough. Sorry to be the one to tell you, but you're the next one to go. You'll be joining your little friends soon enough."

"_You're_ the reason they're gone, aren't you?!" Sadie growled, narrowing her eyes at the boy.

Scott smiled. "Well, as much as I'd like to take credit for Katie's departure, I can't. But as for Eva and B. . ."

Sadie took a deep breath. "You know, Katie taught me a lot of things: love thy neighbour, love thy brother, love thy classmate and even to be nice to that mean girl in homeroom! But Eva taught me a lot of things too – THIS!"

And with that, Sadie's fist connected with Scott's face, knocking him to the ground with a surprised grunt. The raven-haired girl then dove on top of the redheaded redneck, straddling him and punching him repeatedly.

"Oh my gosh!" Bridgette cried out, and in a few short moments, several hands were pulling Sadie off of Scott.

* * *

**Confessional**

"_All part of my plan." Scott admitted to the confessional, holding an icepack to his face. "Poor Sadie – what will you do now that the entire team hates you?" He sighed, lowering the icepack for a moment to reveal a black eye. "Damn, Eva taught that girl how to hit and hit hard."_

Static.

"_Okay, so Chef Hatchet is pretty scary, but he's not the only person who I'm afraid of as of today." Cameron said. "Sadie attacking Scott like that was pretty terrifying."_

Static.

"_Sadie is going down!" Bridgette declared. "Nobody gets away with hitting my friends like that!"_

* * *

"Ow! What was that for?!" Scott asked innocently, putting a hand to his jaw.

Bridgette grabbed Scott, helping him stand up by putting his arm around her shoulders. And the mellow surfer girl shot Sadie one of the most hostile glares that she had ever given anyone. "Are you crazy?! Why would you hit him like that?"

"He was saying totally mean things to me!"

"Like what? Like he doesn't want to be your boyfriend?!" Bridgette asked rhetorically. "He's not into you so you hit him?"

"Hold on - WHAT?!" Sadie sputtered, her eyes wide with shock. "Why would I ever want to date a jerk like Scott?!"

"I'll thank you to not talk about _my boyfriend_ like that!"

* * *

**Confessional**

"_It just goes to show how pathetic and naive Bridgette is." Scott said. "She _actually_ thinks I feel something for her."_

* * *

"You're going out with _him_?" Sadie asked with a snort of derision. "I feel sorry for you."

"You're just jealous!" Bridgette said, before turning to Scott. "Come on, let's go get you fixed up."

* * *

**Confessional**

_Sadie sat in the confessional, looking like she had a lot of mixed feelings. "So I totally just screwed up my chances of winning this game, but I totally don't regret anything. Scott totally had that coming to him!"_

* * *

The sun was just going down when the last of the challengers had to face their fears. It was finally Duncan's turn, and the host lead the group of teens back to their cabins. Standing with her blank side to the beach was a cardboard cutout of Celine Dion, making Duncan shudder.

"You can do this." Courtney said as she took the punk's hand reassuringly. "She's pretty. She's nice."

Duncan looked down at Courtney's hand in his and smiled. "Alright, I'll try."

"Um, hello, Courtney? Are you forgetting who's _not_ on our team?" Bridgette asked in irritation as Scott, who had one arm wrapped around her waist, finished whispering something in her ear.

Courtney dropped the punk's hand like a hot rock. To cover for herself, she put her hands behind her back and gave Duncan a smile. "But it's okay if you can't do it."

"Don't listen to her! She's just trying to thrown you off!" Heather snapped.

Duncan rolled his eyes and sprinted towards the cardboard standee, wrapping his arms around it and finally conquering his fear, evoking cheers from his teammates – and from Courtney. That is, Courtney cheered until she realized who she was cheering for, and fell silent in an instant.

"One more point for the Killer Bass!" Chris announced before turning to the three contestants whose challenges had begun but not finished. "Congratulations on making it through today without taking off your wigs or your makeup! Especially in that fight today, Sadie! Great work keeping your wig on!"

"Oh can it!" Sadie snapped in irritation, sending a dark look at the host as the glares of several of her teammates bore into her back.

"Geez, _touchy_." Chris said, frowning momentarily. And then his wide smile returned. "Dakota and Justin earn a point each for the Gophers and Sadie earns a point for the Bears putting the score totals at-"

"Wait, wait, wait." Jo said. "You said you'd give us double points for whoever else finished the challenge!"

"No I didn't." Chris said in an almost sing-song tone. "That was only if _three_ more Gophers faced their fears, but since Zoey didn't face hers, no double points! And with a meagre four points, that puts you guys on the chopping block tonight! And since this isn't a reward challenge, it doesn't really matter that the Bears and the Bass tied for first place! Gophers, I'll see you tonight at the campfire ceremony!"

* * *

"Welcome back to another campfire ceremony." Chris greeted the teens cheerfully as they found their seats. "First marshmallow goes to Dakota." Chris tossed the blonde a marshmallow. "Jo. And here's one for Cody too."

* * *

**Confessional**

"_I'll admit I was a little nervous tonight." Jo told the camera. "I was weak and I failed my challenge. But it's not going to happen again."_

* * *

"Dawn. Trent. Ann Maria."

"Good luck." Trent whispered to Zoey as he passed the redhead on his way to get his marshmallow. She smiled up at her friend.

"Noah and Alejandro." the host gave both males their marshmallows before turning to the remaining two contestants. "Justin, Zoey – you're our bottom two tonight."

Zoey sighed and stood up. "I guess I'll get my stuff then."

"Sit down." Chris said, rolling his eyes.

"What's the point? Justin faced his fear but I couldn't face mine. Obviously I'm the one going home tonight." Zoey said, wiping a tear from her eye.

"Just _sit down_."

Zoey sat.

"Justin, dude, I think this one is totally wrong, but the final marshmallow of the night goes to Zoey."

A stunned silence followed as the host's words sunk in. After a few moments, Zoey rose mutely and walked to collect her marshmallow.

"I can't be eliminated." Justin said in disbelief. "I was going to donate all my winnings to charity!"

"So noble!" Dawn swooned, causing her teammates to regard her with strange expressions.

"Sorry dude, but you are." Chris said with a shrug as Chef came to escort the male model to his ride away from the island.

* * *

**The Votes**

"_Heather may think she has one-upped me, but I assure you that I am fully aware of her intentions. She has no interest in Justin whatsoever." Alejandro said. "I still vote for him though."_

Static.

"_I hate to say it but I'm voting for McGorgeousness tonight. And by that, I mean Justin. Sorry hotstuff, but Al said you gotta go." Ann Maria said._

Static.

"_I vote for Alejandro. There is a darkness in his aura which deeply unsettles me." Dawn said._

Static.

"_Alejandro told me that I could save Zoey from elimination if I vote for Justin instead." Trent voted._

Static.

"_I vote for Jo. Her fear was the easiest to face and she failed." Justin said. "Mine was the hardest to face and I managed it."_

Static.

"_Zoey is the weakest link right now, but I overheard Alejandro telling Trent to vote for Justin, and it would be foolish to not seize the chance to take down one of Alejandro's top allies." Jo said. "So I vote for Justin."_

Static.

"_Jo told me that we're voting out Justin tonight, so that's who I vote for." Cody said._

Static.

"_Alejandro told me to vote for Justin, but he totally faced his fear just like I did! I'm voting for that Noah guy tonight instead." Dakota said._

Static.

"_Oh I don't know who to vote for. Ann Maria, I guess." Zoey said with a shrug that showed she didn't particularly care. "I'm probably going to get voted out tonight anyway, so why even bother?"_

Static.

"_I'm going to take a chance and go against Jo on this one. We need to get rid of that slimy eel Alejandro." Noah said._

* * *

**Eliminated so far:**

28th: Justin

29th: Ezekiel & Lindsay

30st: Beverly

31st: Owen

32rd: Eva

33th: Sam

34th: Sierra

35th: Staci

36th: Katie

* * *

**And there we have it, another chapter of _Total Drama Island Rewritten_. And with a whopping total of nearly ten thousand words, this chapter is way longer than I originally intended it to be, oh well. I hope you all enjoyed it, and if you guys see any areas where you think I could improve, let me know – I want to become a better writer and the only way to achieve that is through constructive criticism, so don't hold back! I can take it!**


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